


Paper Town

by jane_x80



Category: NCIS
Genre: Actors, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Episode: s02e07 Call of Silence, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-28 20:41:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16249400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: When curmudgeonly ex-Marine actor Gibbs kind of meets blockbuster mega movie star Tony: A Twenty First Century Hollywood Fairy Tale.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Banbury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banbury/gifts).



> Doesn't it seem like I keep writing AUs these days? :D Anyway, this is a totally Actors Alternate Universe. There is no NCIS, no law enforcement, everyone works in the entertainment industry in Hollywood. That said, I have absolutely zero idea of anything about the entertainment industry, so take it all with a grain of salt! Or maybe even a tablespoonful of it. ;)
> 
> As always, huge thanks to my amazing beta [jesco0307](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesco0307/pseuds/jesco0307). I truly appreciate your notes and insights on this story and thank you for all your help! You are the best! <3 Of course, huge thanks go out to [Banbury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banbury/pseuds/Banbury) who chose my summary and made such fabulous artwork to go with it! OMG!! Thank you!
> 
> The title of the story comes from the lyrics of [Real Friends](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAmyHiLGhQ) (Camila Cabello):  
>  _No, I think I'll stay in tonight_  
>  _Skip the conversations and the "Oh, I'm fines"_  
>  _No, I'm no stranger to surprise_  
>  _This **paper town** has let me down too many times_
> 
> Here we go, onward to the story! <3

**Prologue**

[](https://i.imgur.com/OOmquQI.jpg)

**Once upon a time…**

Gibbs was tired after a long day of work. He hated coming home at three in the morning, but it really had been a long shoot and they’d managed to wrap the shooting of the episode, which meant that he would have a couple of days off before they needed to start again. He was seriously looking forward to crawling into bed and curling his exhausted body around Shannon.

It had been a while since he’d had downtime and Shannon had been busy with the movie that she was working on. She’d scored a small part in a movie directed by up and coming director Tobias Fornell. Gibbs knew him slightly, he did good enough work. But Shannon had been kept even busier than he’d thought she would be for the number of lines that she had for the role. But a job was a job. Things changed, scripts changed, Gibbs knew how that was.

He also knew that he missed Shannon because they hadn’t seemed to have had a chance to connect properly in the last few months. She was always on her way out as he came in, or he was leaving when she came home. She’d been occupied the last few weekends that he’d been free. Tobias was shooting extra scenes or something. Gibbs didn’t know. He hoped that Shannon would get extra compensation for all the extra work she was doing. It was only fair, given the amount of time she was putting into the job.

He kicked his shoes off and left them by the front door, locking it behind him. He padded upstairs in his socked feet and started unbuttoning his shirt. He wouldn’t leave a trail of clothes all the way to the bedroom, because Shannon hated it when he did that. But he really was so tired. Quietly, he ducked into the bedroom and went straight to the bathroom, brushing his teeth and shucking off the rest of his clothes into the laundry hamper, leaving on his boxers.

After he turned the bathroom light off, he waited a minute for his eyes to be used to the darkness before making his way to the bed. He could see Shannon’s body under the covers, and he sighed as he got into bed and carefully spooned her, dropping a soft kiss on the back of her neck. It felt like it had been too long since he got to curl his body around hers. He sighed, nuzzling the back of her neck, not trying to wake her, but just wanting to feel her skin against his.

“Gibbs?” Shannon mumbled.

“Shh, didn’t mean to wake you. Go on back to sleep, babe,” Gibbs whispered, kissing her neck.

Shannon’s body started shaking and Gibbs realized that she was crying.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” he asked, panic building in his gut. Shannon was one of the strongest people he knew. They’d met at that train station all those years ago, gotten married so young, and she’d stuck by him while he was deployed, and through the injury and physical therapy and PTSD years. She was his good luck charm, the only reason that he’d made it out of Iraq alive. She was the strongest person he knew, and it gutted him to hear her crying.

Shannon turned and buried her face in his chest, sobbing quietly.

“Hush, baby, it’s OK. I got you,” he whispered, over and over, running his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it.” It was what Shannon had always said to him. They would get through it. Together. He firmly believed it.

It took a long time for Shannon to stop crying. Finally, she was calm again.

“What is it, babe?” Gibbs asked, keeping his tone gentle.

“I’m pregnant,” she hiccupped at him, eyes down. And then she began crying again, seemingly unable to control her tears.

“But that’s awesome!” Gibbs gasped.

A child! They’d consciously decided not to have children while he was actively deployed, not wanting to chance Shannon having to be a single parent should something happen to Gibbs overseas. A Marine’s life had absolutely no guarantees. Besides, Gibbs wanted to be there and be around while his kid grew up. He didn’t want to be away for months on end, only seeing his kid once a year if he was lucky. So they’d waited until he was done with being on active duty. But once he’d come home, it had taken a long time for him to get used to being home, and the whole injury, physical therapy and PTSD thing didn’t make things any easier for his transition, so they had somehow just stopped talking about children. Not that Gibbs didn’t want a child, of course he did. It had just not been a priority for them. But now, somehow, they were about to have a baby. This was a gift. A son or a daughter! His heart soared at the thought of a baby, half him and half Shannon. Would the baby have Shannon’s gorgeous red hair? He hoped so.

“We haven’t talked about it in so long,” Shannon whispered hesitantly. “I didn’t know how you felt about kids now.”

“I know… I just wanted for us to be in the right place. But kids, Shan, we’ve wanted them for a while, right?”

She nodded, face still buried in Gibbs’ chest.

“This is amazing news, Shan,” Gibbs whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely,” he assured her. “I love you so much, babe.”

Shannon’s tears started again.

“Oh, baby. This is a good thing. Why are you crying?”

She shrugged, still sobbing into his chest.

“It’ll be OK, babe. We’ll make it work. Mike will be excited for us, your mom and my dad will just be over the moon! This is a good thing, babe. I know we haven’t talked about it…”

“We didn’t plan for this to happen…”

“I know. But it’ll work out.”

“OK,” she sighed. “OK.”

“Good.”

“You’d be such a great dad,” she whispered.

“I hope so,” he smiled, kissing the top of her head. “I really hope so. And you’d be an amazing mom.”

He held Shannon until her breaths evened out and she fell asleep. When he pulled back, he saw how swollen her face was. She’d been crying about it all night, until he got home. He didn’t really understand why she’d been so upset about being pregnant, but he’d heard people talking about pregnancy hormones. Maybe it was hormonal and it upset her for whatever reason. It didn’t really matter, as long as she wasn’t upset anymore.

Gibbs found himself lying there, wide awake despite his earlier exhaustion and sleepiness. He was going to be a father! He couldn’t wait. He didn’t even care if the baby was a boy or a girl, he was already in love with it. He laid there, Shannon tucked into his side. He had one arm around her shoulder, curling his hand down so his palm was pressed against her still-flat belly. It was going to be the best damned experience of his life. He couldn’t wait for it to be morning so he could call his father and let him know the good news. The old codger had been bugging him and Shannon for a grandbaby ever since they’d started dating. He knew that Jackson’s friends had a pool going to see how long Jackson would have to wait to get a grandchild and that Jackson had waited a long time for this, for Gibbs to become a father.

He smiled to himself, imagining himself taking his child to soccer and baseball, piano recitals, teaching them woodworking, helping them to ride a bike. He also imagined him and Shannon up all night with a crying baby, the endless diaper changes, and temper tantrums. He was so excited to embrace it all, the good and the bad. He was going to be the best dad that he could possibly be. It was going to be the best thing ever.

A week later, when he came home from the last day of shooting the next episode, he found Shannon sitting on their bed, fully dressed, suitcases packed and waiting by the front door.

“Shan?” he walked in, frowning. “Are you taking a trip? Is everything OK?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m leaving you,” she told him.

“What?” he grinned, thinking she had to be kidding. Maybe she’d planned a weekend away for them, some place romantic. Couples were encouraged to spend time together before the baby arrived, right?

“Gibbs… you have to listen to me and take me seriously.”

He nodded, eyes wide with worry now.

“I’ve been cheating on you,” Shannon told him baldly. That was the kind of person she’d always been. Forthright and up front. Not that this was ever anything Gibbs thought would come out of his wife’s mouth. “I’m pregnant but you’re not the baby’s father.”

“ _What_?” Gibbs spat out.

“I’m eight weeks along and we haven’t had sex in over three months.”

They hadn’t had sex in over three months? Could that be true? How could that have happened? Gibbs’ mind began whirling.

“But last week… you told me…”

“I told you I was pregnant. I never said you were the baby’s father.”

Gibbs swallowed and focused on keeping his breathing even and his face impassive. “So, you were crying because…?”

“The baby’s father didn’t take the news of my pregnancy well.”

“Ah,” Gibbs nodded, pursing his lips, even as his heart was breaking. “And now?”

“And now he’s had time to think about it and he’s changed his tune.”

“Ah,” Gibbs nodded again. “So last week you were fine with letting me think I was having a baby with you, but now you’re telling me the truth? If this asshole hadn’t decided to step up and do right by you and the baby, would you have ever told me that this child isn’t mine?”

Shannon looked down, and Gibbs could read shame in her body language.

He nodded. “Fine. You’re absolutely right. You _should_ leave.”

“I _am_ sorry,” Shannon sighed, looking up again, her eyes filled with tears.

“I don’t care,” Gibbs said shortly. “I’m going out for the night. I can’t stand to look at your face right now. Get your stuff out of here. You’d better not be here tomorrow. Don’t leave _anything_ of yours here. If I see anything you’ve missed, they’ll be in a bonfire by tomorrow night.”

“OK,” Shannon said in a small voice.

Gibbs turned and started stalking away.

“Gibbs,” Shannon whispered.

He stopped and turned his head. “What?”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I don’t fucking care.”

She sighed.

“I really hope he turns out to be a lumberjack,” Gibbs gritted out before he left the room and the house. He ended up driving around for a couple of hours before going to sleep in his trailer at work.

The next day, Mike called to let him know that _Coleoptera_ had been canceled. Their numbers had been good, and critics and audiences loved the show, but the network had wanted to go ‘in a different direction’. Also, Gibbs saw on TMZ that director Tobias Fornell was seen out and about with his new girlfriend, Shannon Gibbs.

Gibbs got good and mad, and trashed his trailer before he went home to an empty house. Shannon had taken almost everything, leaving him with his clothes and were those his golf clubs in the hall closet? Fuck. When did he buy golf clubs? He didn’t even _like_ golf. The story of his life.

The network executives called him with their fake sympathy, fake optimistic voices, and their false, false hearts and another wave of rage went through Gibbs. This world he lived in _sucked_. He thought longingly about re-enlisting with the Marine Corps and praying that some bad guy somewhere in the world would put a bullet in his head and end his misery, but he’d washed out after his last deployment. He officially numbered as one of the injured veterans of the Corps. He wouldn’t be able to pass the physical. His knee was held together artificially, and he still had that scar in his chest where the last bullet had pierced him.

For the first time in his life, Gibbs wondered why the hell that bullet hadn’t hit three inches to the left and just killed him outright. Because this? What Shannon had done to him? A thousand times worse. She’d ripped his heart right out, not just withdrawing her love, but dangling the possibility of a child at him and then so cruelly taking it away from him.

After being alone in his empty house and blind drunk for a week straight, Mike came over and offered him his beach house in Mexico and he took it, going down and living there for two months, never shaving, barely even showering, truth be told. Mostly, he drank. Until Mike came down and told him to suck it up, move forward, and stop drinking himself to death. So Gibbs pulled himself out of the abyss and went home to the house that felt as empty as his heart.

Jenny called, having lined up a few auditions for him. He went back to work, but this time, he had nothing left to lose. Fuck Hollywood. Fuck the industry. He couldn’t give two shits now. Full of assholes, heartbreakers, dream killers, wife stealers and soulless people who only wanted to make money. And without Shannon to soften his edges, he refused to pretend to be anything that he wasn’t, going back to his drill sergeant days.

Those had been good days when people just ran screaming from him. If they weren’t saying “Sir, yes sir” to him, he didn’t want to or have to hear it. And that was how he was going to live his life from now on.

He had no illusions about himself. There was no way he would continue to make it in Hollywood, of all places. He asked Jenny to find him the most ruthless divorce lawyer, not wanting to give Shannon a cent more than she deserved. No more Mr Nice Gibbs. And once the divorce was final and he was run out of town for his terrible attitude, he’d figure out his next steps at that point.

Until then, fuck Shannon, fuck Tobias Fornell, fuck all of their careers, fuck this stupid godforsaken paper town and fuck the horse it rode in on.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**Hollywood Gossip** – Fans of the hit science fiction TV show _Coleoptera_ are outraged when it was unexpectedly cancelled over the weekend. The network’s “going in a different direction” explanation falls flat. We can’t help but wonder if there was internal strife, or other things at work here? Especially since Shannon Gibbs, wife of _Coleoptera_ star LJ Gibbs, reportedly left him and is now being seen on the arms of director Tobias Fornell, and the delicious Captain Shiny Boots has supposedly trashed his house in a fit of anger and run away for a Mexican hiatus. What the heck is going on here?


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

[](https://i.imgur.com/8vEa2BD.jpg)

**Thirteen years later…**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_Fans of the TV series #Coleoptera, hold on to your panties! Big cast reunion for this year’s #SDCC! Doubtful that the delicious LJ Gibbs will actually be there :(_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When the invitation first arrived at Gibbs’ ranch, he tossed it out without even opening it. He had been in the business long enough to be able to differentiate between all of the things that his manager forwarded to his home. All legal and financial documents went through his attorneys and financial managers, so he didn’t have to give a shit about it. That was what he paid them for. His manager and her staff went through the rest of his mail and only forwarded to him things that were supposed to matter, which really cut down on the volume of mail he tended to receive.

As to the items that did get sent to his home, there were the big envelopes with printed scripts, carefully culled by his manager as he refused to read what he deemed ‘stupid shit’ and she was well versed in what he considered ‘stupid shit’. There were smaller envelopes that tended to be writers or directors that Gibbs didn’t have a personal relationship with that wanted to correspond privately with him. Gibbs was a dinosaur and he knew it. He refused to have anything to do with email, and his cell phone number was known to very few people. If someone was serious about talking to him, they would be advised to ask his manager to deliver a letter to him. That was just the way it was and if they didn’t like it, then they could just suck it. And of the mail that was forwarded to him, finally there were those fancy little envelopes with cardstock inside that tended to be invitations to this, that and the other. It could be to galas, red carpets, awards, charity events, or whatever else. Gibbs could not for the life of him force his manager into just tossing those out for him. He kept being sent things like that even though all he did was throw them in the recycling without even opening them.

So, true to form, Gibbs tossed out the invitation to that year’s San Diego Comic-Con without a second glance, just like he tossed out every invitation of this nature he received, including the invitation to the Academy Awards three years previously. The one where his manager, Jenny Shepard, had actually had to call him and force him to attend, given that he had been up for Best Actor in a Leading Role and he had somehow ended up actually going home with the Oscar. Since then, Gibbs figured that if he needed to know about some event he actually needed to attend, someone who mattered would call him and convince him of this need. So he felt even better about throwing out and recycling all of the invitations he received without a second thought.

A week later, Jenny called him to ask if he had RSVPed to the San Diego Comic-Con. Gibbs rolled his eyes and grunted negatively.

“It’s the fifteen year anniversary of _Coleoptera_ , Gibbs,” Shepard told him earnestly. “Your entire former cast will be appearing at the SDCC.”

“It’s been thirteen years since the show was canceled,” Gibbs growled. “Who really gives a shit anymore?”

“Are you kidding me? _Coleoptera_ has the most rabid cult following ever! Your fans absolutely still love you _and_ that show, and they’re demanding that you all show up and speak to them!”

“We were canceled halfway into our second season. Nobody remembers the show,” Gibbs rolled his eyes. Jenny was just like all these people in show business, so dramatic.

“Not true! You know that Oscar or not, people still know you best as ‘Captain Shiny Boots’!”

Gibbs was in danger of hurting himself, he rolled his eyes so hard. “Not interested,” he told Jenny firmly, and hung up on her. He had horses to tend to. They were much more important to him than any stupid Comic-Con.

A few days later, his former co-star Abigail Sciuto called him. “Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!” she shrieked in his ear.

Gibbs grinned, realizing that he hadn’t spoken to the bubbly actress and heard her trademark greeting for him in a couple of months. “Abs,” he replied, his tone warm and fond.

“I heard you said no to coming with us to the reunion for _Coleoptera_ in San Diego,” she said without preamble. How Abby made it in Hollywood, Gibbs didn’t know, because she was quirky and honest, and if she thought something was stupid she would tell you to your face. But she was kind hearted and sweet, she practically gave away every dime she made to all of the causes she supported, _but_ she was talented and beautiful, so she did remain steadily employed.

“Yup,” Gibbs said succinctly.

“Aww come _on_ , Gibbs!” Abby whined. “Come to San Diego with us! Everyone’s going to be there! Kate, McGee, Ziva, Jimmy, even Vance!”

Gibbs blew out a long breath. “You know I hate these things, Abs.”

“I know you do, but this one will be so much fun! All of us are going to be there! We just get to sit at a panel or two, and talk about what a blast we used to have working with each other. And it’s all expenses paid, we can hang out after. Maybe we can walk around the con and see some other stuff.”

“Not interested.”

“People wear costumes and shit to this thing, Gibbs! You’ll see at least fifty Captain Shiny Boots there!”

“Nope.”

“ _Pleeeeeeease_ ,” Abby begged. Gibbs could picture the huge, hazel eyes that would put a puppy dog to shame. “Please, Gibbs! Come on! Come be the Bossman again! Just for a couple of days!”

“I hate this kind of stuff.”

“It’s not even in LA!” Abby objected. “It’s in San Diego. You don’t have to even go near Hollywood for this one, Gibbs!”

Gibbs sighed again. Abby was one of the few Hollywood people he’d remained good friends with. She came to spend time with him at the ranch every few months, and she was practically family to him now. She had been eighteen when _Coleoptera_ first started, and the youngest of the cast, so they’d all been surrogate big brothers and sisters to her.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally relented.

“Yayyyy!!! I’ll call you in a few days, and I’m sure you’ll say yes then. Right? _Riiiiiiiight_?”

“Maybe,” Gibbs muttered reluctantly.

Gibbs hung up without a goodbye, and rubbed his face with his hands. Well. This was a spanner in the works. Abby sounded determined and when Abby had that look in her eye and that tone of voice, it was near impossible to thwart her. He’d learned that a long time ago. 

Hell, it might even be OK to get together with the crew that had been the most fun group of people he had ever worked with. It was just difficult for him to say yes to this because _Coleoptera_ had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. He’d loved the show, loved each and every script, loved the people he worked with from the cast, to the crew, to the writers and directors and everyone even marginally associated with the show. For this show, he’d ridden horses, flown a spaceship, shot a gun and all kinds of fun stuff because the show had been set in a distant and dystopian future. And at the time, he’d been in love and had been married to Shannon. Shannon who had told him that she was pregnant. And a week later, she ended up divorcing him after she told him that she had cheated on him, that the child she was carrying wasn’t his and this man that had fathered a child with his wife had finally stepped up and taken responsibility. Shannon had been prepared to lie to Gibbs and let him think that this child was his, since he’d had no idea she had been cheating on him. She’d left him the day before they received news that _Coleoptera_ had been cancelled. So yeah. The show was literally the best of times and the worst of times for Gibbs.

After that, Gibbs had retreated into himself and began to view Hollywood and the whole entertainment business as a blight upon the world. He sneered at the paparazzi, hounding him because Shannon had left him for Tobias Fornell, one of the most promising directors at the time, with several critically acclaimed blockbusters under his belt.

The irony was, that once Gibbs decided that he was done with the industry, and heartsick about both the end of his marriage and the end of _Coleoptera_ , that was when he started landing plum roles in Big Movies, with a capital B and a capital M. Apparently people had noticed his performance in the series. But Gibbs’ attitude had never improved or gone back to the happy and carefree days of _Coleoptera_. He was still a bastard and he hated the world he had to live in, but somehow, perplexingly, that just made him even more in demand.

He starred in three action movies with the kind of paycheck that allowed him to never need to work another day in his life, interspersing it with several independent movies, shown at Cannes and Sundance, winning awards there. He did serious movies, and comedies, and flexed his acting chops, never tying himself down to a stereotype. But he never did press for any of it. It was written in his contract. He never made public appearances to sell his movies, and he never schmoozed with anyone. Early on, he’d ended up quitting several projects before production even started because they hadn’t taken him seriously when he’d put it in writing that he would never do press for the project. But again, the whole bastard recluse thing ended up working for him.

A couple of years after _Coleoptera’s_ demise, he’d made enough money to sell his house in LA and buy a ranch in Wyoming so that was what he did. He moved away from the hustle and bustle of LA and sequestered himself in his ranch in Wyoming, raising horses and making artisan furniture by hand. After a while, he only worked on maybe one acting project a year, being extremely particular about what he chose to do, and while he was professional at work, he knew he was a terror behind the scenes, scaring off PA after PA with his gruff ways and refusal to speak. He didn’t hang out with any of his new cast mates, and he refused to even entertain the idea of dating anyone again. Any chemistry on screen was completely manufactured. Gibbs was a consummate actor, but he made no effort to do anything outside work with his cast mates.

Gibbs was just done with all of it. He’d given enough of himself to this industry that just took and took and now he had nothing left to give. He had no energy to play the stupid games that people played, so he chose a project, signed the contracts, went to work, and made amazing movies, without ever making another friend. And that was completely fine with him. In fact, it was ideal. He went home to Wyoming and hung out with his ranch hands and enjoyed their company just fine. He knew who his real friends were, now.

But if Abby wanted Gibbs to do something, it was going to be difficult for him to worm his way out of this one. Gibbs knew it but he wasn’t going to fall for it too easily. He needed to at least make her work for this. So he dodged her calls for the next day or so.

Two days later, Mike Franks called him. Franks had been the creator and producer of _Coleoptera_. Gibbs owed the man, big time. Franks had been the first person to give Gibbs the chance to be a leading man on anything. Prior to _Coleoptera_ , Gibbs had done a slew of supporting roles, but Franks had been the one to elevate him to the role of leading man. Back when Gibbs had done interviews, he’d gone on record saying that whatever Franks wanted him to do, he would do it. And he’d stayed true to that – working with an ensemble cast to do Shakespeare’s _Twelfth Night_ , when Franks asked him to do it. He’d also voiced an animated superhero because Franks asked him to do it. He did not regret anything that he’d done for Franks. Franks had been the one to give him his big break, even if it had ended in heartbreak.

“Abby’s making me go,” Franks told him plaintively, about the thing in San Diego.

“You know I don’t do these things, Mike,” Gibbs tried to resist. “I hate these things and I’m terrible at them.”

“You used to be great at them.”

“I used to give a shit,” Gibbs grunted.

“I know bad things happened at the end there, Gibbs.”

“The show was great.”

“I’m glad you still think so.”

“I do.”

“It’s got a huge following. People want us to make a movie.”

Gibbs sighed. “Send me a script if you guys are serious and you know I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you want me to. You know that.”

“Then come to San Diego.”

“Anything but that.”

“If you don’t come, Abby will pout at me the whole time.”

“Skip town. Take a vacation. I hear Tahiti is great this time of year.”

“There’s nowhere in this world that a man can hide from Abigail Sciuto’s puppy dog eyes.”

Gibbs chuckled at that. “Fair enough.”

“Abby said you said maybe.”

“I wanted to get her off the phone before the eyes affected me.”

“You’re _gonna_ be there, Gibbs, or I will tell the world what your real first name is.”

Gibbs groaned. “Fucking fine,” he finally huffed. “I’ll be there.”

“Call Jenny and tell her to RSVP for you since I know you’ve already thrown out that invite.”

“You know me too well,” Gibbs grinned.

“See you in a month, Marine.”

“Whatever.”

And that was how Gibbs found himself railroaded into going to the San Diego Comic-Con, even though he was adamantly opposed to appearing in public. The worst of it was that when news of his appearance went public, Jenny told him that they’d had to upgrade to the largest hall available for the panels in which he was appearing.

Gibbs put all thought of this out of his head, refusing to acknowledge any of it, retreating to his workshop and working on the chairs he was building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I did originally have proper emojis in the tweets, but unfortunately they all have to be text based or I need to treat them like pictures in order for the emojis to appear so I've gone back to the more basic text based smileys and such. Pretend they're the cool emojis we know and love ;)


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

[](https://i.imgur.com/nUyONMn.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_   
_#SDCC is hot like burning! @Tony_Di is here with cast and director of #JuniperMoon. Sequel comes out in 3 wks!_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gibbs gave up on fighting Abby on the issue and even went so far as to allow her to choose his clothes for the thing. She’d talked someone into sending him shiny, black leather boots almost exactly like the ones that had been part of his costume in _Coleoptera_. The boots that had given him the nickname ‘Captain Shiny Boots’. She chose the pants and shirts for the two different days that they would be there. Gibbs just rolled his eyes and agreed because when Abby had her mind set on something, there were few ways to get her to change it. It was easier to capitulate. Besides, he had been fond of those boots he used to wear and really, Abby had chosen clothes that Gibbs didn’t exactly mind. She did know him pretty well, after all.

He was in the car on the way to the convention center, and they were stopped at an intersection. Traffic was horrendous, especially heading towards the venue, which only reminded Gibbs of why he hated these crowded events. Luckily he wasn’t driving himself, or he would’ve probably turned back around and gone back to the airport.

It was taking a long time to get through the intersection. Gibbs stared at the billboard right in front of him. It was advertising a movie that was opening in the next few weeks, and a man stood smack in the middle, face serious, staring at him, practically looking right into his soul from that gigantic poster. He had beautiful green eyes, the kind of cheekbones that made people want to cry, and perfect, luscious, well shaped lips that Gibbs couldn’t help but picture wrapped around his dick. He cleared his throat softly, trying to tear his eyes away from the poster.

“He’s striking, right?” the driver spoke, surprising him.

“What?” Gibbs frowned.

“Tony DiNozzo?”

Gibbs gave him a confused look.

“Thought maybe you might know him?” the driver gestured towards the billboard.

Gibbs shook his head.

“Tony DiNozzo. He’s huge now. But shit, I was a fan even when he was doing the little indie flicks a few years ago. The man looks like he was built for sex,” the driver sighed.

“Tony DiNozzo,” Gibbs mouthed it to himself, seeing the name in huge letters at the bottom of the billboard.

“Next big thing to hit Hollywood,” the driver nodded. “Other than you, I think he’s the biggest star to come to the Con this year.”

“What?” Gibbs had to stop staring at the billboard when the car began to move again.

“Tony. He’s supposed to be here at the Con to talk about that movie that’s coming out soon. Tobias Fornell directed it, and it’s the sequel to the sequel of the movie that they’d made that was pretty small budget and grossed over a billion dollars worldwide,” the driver explained.

“Fornell is going to be there?” Gibbs made a face.

“Oh yeah, sorry, sir,” the man seemed legitimately contrite. “That was a dick move he pulled on you.”

Gibbs shrugged. “Water under the bridge,” he muttered.

“But that Tony DiNozzo, man…” the man sighed in a heartfelt manner. “And the thing is, most people try to fit into the stereotype. Be what they’re ‘expected’ to be. But Tony, man, he’s just done whatever he wanted. You’ve got to respect that.”

“What do you mean?” Gibbs was intrigued despite himself.

“I guess they weren’t kidding when they said you were a recluse, huh?”

Gibbs shrugged. But he still wanted an answer to his question. Those clear green eyes from the billboard haunted him.

“Tony DiNozzo is one of the most openly bisexual people in Hollywood. He hasn’t bothered to try to hide his sexuality to fit into the ‘acceptable’ heteronormative general public,” the man said proudly. “He’s supposed to have slept with a lot of men and women, and even before he made it big, he never hid himself, and that’s chutzpah.”

“Huh,” Gibbs muttered. OK. He might be fantasizing about those lips wrapped around his dick for the next few months for real then. Especially since Tony was apparently open about the fact that he’d fuck a man or a woman. “He single?”

“Is he ever,” the driver shook his head sadly. “He claims he’ll know when he meets ‘the one’ and be theirs and only theirs forever. But until then, he has very enthusiastically been playing the field…”

Gibbs shook his head, suppressing a snort of disbelief. After Shannon there had been very few sexual partners. _Very_ few. Less than the fingers of one hand. It was like she’d turned him off sex forever. It wasn’t so much that she had cheated on him, even though that was bad enough of a betrayal. But that she’d been ready to pass off Fornell’s daughter as his own, and that he’d already loved the child in her belly, and probably still loved it, even though she turned out to be Fornell’s, well that really made him much less inclined towards starting any kind of romantic or sexual relationship with anyone. The idea of meeting ‘the one’ was ridiculous and naïve. He’d thought Shannon was the one, and obviously she turned out not to be. But it wouldn’t stop Gibbs from fantasizing about that luscious mouth of Tony DiNozzo’s. Nope. Definitely not.

When the car dropped him off at the venue, he was whisked by security through the throngs of people – many of whom were dressed in different and colorful costumes, and yes, he did see a few dressed as Captain Shiny Boots – straight to the room where his former cast mates were waiting. He walked in and everyone crowded him, hugging and kissing, and suddenly Gibbs’ heart felt lighter. He’d loved this group of people like they were his family, and he’d felt responsible when the show was canceled, like he’d let them all down. But they all looked happy to see him. Even Vance, one of their regular directors that he’d clashed with a few times back in the day.

Mike Franks was there, looking like he was jonesing for a cigarette.

“You gonna make it through this?” Gibbs asked him. “Look about ready to kill someone for a smoke.”

Mike made a face and patted his arm. “Got a patch,” he sniffed. “Leyla told me if I didn’t kick the habit, she was going to leave me.”

“Leyla says that she’s going to leave you every other day,” Gibbs rolled his eyes.

“She meant it this time. Said she and Amira weren’t going to hang around waiting for me to drop dead of lung cancer,” Mike said sheepishly. “So yeah. I have the patch. I have the gum. And I’m even trying some of the new drugs they have on the market.”

“All of them at once?”

“Whatever it takes,” Mike said grimly.

“Good man,” Gibbs clapped his shoulder.

They sat together, catching up with each other, although Gibbs was content to listen than to contribute to the conversation. Soon, they were ushered to the hallway, ready to make their entrance. Vance was the first person to go in – he was apparently going to moderate the panel. He introduced them, one by one, and Gibbs waited as his cast mates walked in as they were announced, and heard the raucous cheering accompanying each entry. Franks was introduced second to last, and finally, he heard Vance yelling his name, “LJ Gibbs!”

Huffing a sigh and shaking his head, turning his eyes up heavenward at the fact that he was just about to go on stage to talk about the show that had been the most joyous and also the most painful part about his life, he strode onto the stage.

He was almost blinded by the flashes going off and the roar of the fans was deafening. They were screaming “Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!” hysterically. Gibbs found himself staring at the roomful of screaming fans, completely dumbfounded.

He came to himself when Abby and Kate took his hands and led him to his chair and pulled the mike right by his face, sitting down on either side of him.

“Hello,” he said into the mike. He was dazed by the uproarious response of the audience, screaming so loudly that he was sure the roof was going to cave in on them. It was a moment before the crowd calmed down.

He turned to Abby, giving her a stupefied grin. “What the fuck?” he mouthed to her.

Abby grinned beatifically. “This is what you’ve been missing for years,” she signed to him. Abby had grown up with deaf parents, and Gibbs had had a deaf best friend and so the two had bonded and sent each other secret messages using ASL even while on set. “They _love_ us.”

Gibbs shook his head, and then turned back to the audience when Kate put a hand on his arm, gesturing to the crowd. They were all signing “I Love You” and screaming it at them. Gibbs couldn’t help but laugh softly, signing it right back at them, which of course, precipitated another huge round of eardrum busting yelling, screaming and whistling.

“See, this is why Gibbs never makes public appearances,” Vance joked. “The soundwaves from you people are going to bring down the roof of this place!”

More screaming. Gibbs grinned and shook his head, bemused by this. What he could see of the crowd included people who were dressed up not only as the different characters from the show, but even some of the villains and guest stars that they’d encountered. They’d only ever aired thirty two episodes of the show, and he knew that Franks had released the final three that they’d shot but hadn’t had a chance to air when the cancellation came through to DVD at the ten year anniversary so there were only thirty five episodes of this show. And yet they were in the largest hall of the conference, so he’d been told, and this crowd was wild and seemed dedicated to the show. It was mind boggling.

Finally Vance had to take control and make the audience quiet down, so they could begin the panel.

“Let’s get to the question everyone wants to ask but would be too afraid to, given your reputation, Gibbs,” Vance grinned at him. “How the hell did anyone get you to be here today?”

Gibbs laughed and rolled his eyes. “One word,” he said into the mike. “Abby.”

Abby clapped her hands and bounced in her seat, giggling at the crowd. “Not true,” she shook her head. “He told me ‘maybe’ and hung up on me.” The crowd ‘awwww’ed in sympathy.

Gibbs shook his head. “That’s more than anyone else would ever get,” he interrupted.

“But then I called Mike and told him Gibbs had told me maybe, and told him I’d done half the work and he needed to close it out for me,” Abby said smugly.

“You owe me,” Mike chimed in, pointing a finger at Abby. “Big time, little girl. Big time.”

“So Abby called you and Mike called you, and that was all it took?” Vance was skeptical.

“Have you seen Abs’ puppy dog eyes?” Gibbs quipped.

Obligingly, Abby turned her head and pouted at Vance, eyes big and sad.

“Oh my god! Put those away!” Vance covered his eyes. “Stop it! I’ll give you whatever you want!”

“Wait, but didn’t you say that Abby called you?” Kate asked. “How could she give you the puppy dog eyes if she was on the phone and you couldn’t even see her?”

“She’s talented. What can I say?” Gibbs shrugged.

“I’m sure your manager and who knows who else out there is jotting down the secret weapon to making you turn up to things,” Ziva joked.

“I would never abuse my powers,” Abby grinned.

And then the panel started in earnest. Vance was a good moderator, ensuring he spread his questions around equally. Gibbs found himself falling into the familiar and comfortable cadence with his former cast mates, laughing and joking, teasing them. Remembering things with fondness, and smiling more than he’d smiled in years, without it being written in a script. He found himself enjoying it, and that the answers his old friends were giving to some of the more unexpected questions were sometimes surprising. He vowed to keep in better touch with this group, because unlike the rest of the business, he actually liked these people. They were his friends. And had been all along. He’d just lost sight of them just because he was so angry with the world.

Vance then opened the panel to questions from the floor. Gibbs could see the line that had formed by the microphone and realized that in the allotted time, not that many of them would get the chance to ask their question. But yet, the line was almost out the door, it was so long. For once, Gibbs felt bad that they wouldn’t be able to talk to everyone in the line.

There were the usual sort of questions – what would they do if they weren’t actors? Gibbs’ answer was easy – he was already kind of doing it with the ranch, raising horses and sheep, and building furniture. Abby’s was easy as well – she would be doing music full time with her band. Kate’s was interesting – she had a bachelor’s in Psychology and she would apparently go back to school for her graduate degree and maybe become a shrink. Ziva wanted to be a stunt coordinator – no surprise there. That woman had done all of her own stunts on the show, and could easily take down three grown men without breaking a sweat. McGee had developed into a bit of a health nut and wanted to open a yoga studio, which made everyone poke him and tease him. Palmer – the ham – stripped off his shirt, revealing his always surprising and incredibly defined abdominal muscles.

“I’d be a stripper, of course,” he announced, standing and gyrating his hips.

Palmer had played a mousy, stuttery, scared of his own shadow character on the show, but the man was himself a powerhouse of self confidence hidden under a layer of mid-western boy next door good looks. And that was definitely shining through today.

“Put that shirt back on, before the rest of us feel completely inferior,” Mike groaned, making the crowd laugh. “Next question!”

“Hi, this question is for Mr Gibbs,” the woman sounded nervous.

“Just Gibbs,” Gibbs told her, the way he’d told everyone who’d tried to put a mister in front of his name. Luckily these people were all fans enough to know never to call him anything but his last name. He had tried to let only the initials of his first and middle name be public knowledge.

“Right,” she cleared her throat. “Gibbs. Hi.”

“Hi,” Gibbs smiled at her.

She blushed and put her hands on her cheeks. “Can you maybe not look at me, please, so I can ask my question without freaking out?”

Gibbs looked surprised at that and raised his eyebrow at Abby.

“It’s cause you have that death glare of blue steel, Bossman,” Abby said into the mike, making the crowd laugh.

“OK,” Gibbs said, deliberately turning towards the crowd as he gestured for the woman to continue. “I’m not looking at you.”

“Thank you. Um, so…” she cleared her throat again. “I’m a big fan! You’ve done so many great things since the show and I’ve watched them all, multiple times. I’ve even watched all of your early stuff.”

Gibbs made a face and nodded at that, still keeping his face averted from the questioner.

“My question is, how much of your success do you attribute to maybe the way you removed yourself from Hollywood? I’ve heard such bad things about being right in the thick of it. What role would you say that your ranch has played in your life?”

“Can I look at you now?” Gibbs asked. “I’d prefer to answer the question looking you in the eye instead of looking away.”

“Yes, yes, you can. Thank you. I will try not to melt into a puddle until after you’ve answered my question,” the woman joked, making the audience laugh.

Gibbs smiled at her. “I would attribute any success that I might have to Mike Franks and to _Coleoptera_ ,” Gibbs said bluntly. “Mike was the first person to think I could play a lead role, and he put me through a lot of things in order to be Captain Shiny Boots. _Coleoptera_ taught me so much, not just about the craft of acting, and all of the million and one things that go into making a television show, but also it taught me what was important to me, as a person. That people who are real and genuine, and people who are your friends, they’re few and far between, especially in this business. This group of people here? I’m proud to call my friends. And they all know they’re welcome to come hide out in Wyoming with me, if they need a break from LA and Hollywood.”

“Are you saying that we taught you that you should be a bastard to people who don’t care about you?” Ziva asked. “We’ve heard how you are on other sets, since _Coleoptera_.”

“Damn right, I am,” Gibbs told her, laughing at that.

“Seriously, people, on _our_ set, Gibbs was the nicest, friendliest, most awesome guy ever,” Palmer gushed. “I couldn’t even believe it when people told me he was a bastard to work with after our show ended.”

Gibbs shrugged. “I just stopped giving a shit, Palmer,” he shook his head. “And if it meant I never got another job in the business, then fuck it. I was done.”

The audience gasped and giggled at the obscenity.

“If you could maybe keep it kid friendly, Gibbs?” Vance said gently.

“What are people going to do? Cancel the show a second time?” Gibbs threw up his hands. “Oops! Sorry! That was done thirteen years ago. Too fuckin’ late for that!”

The audience cheered and applauded at that.

“What about the second part of her question?” Kate asked. “What role has the ranch played in your life?”

Gibbs sighed. “The ranch is my home. I never belonged in LA and the Hollywood scene just makes me want to throw up. I was lucky enough to get some big opportunities, after _Coleoptera_ ended, and was able to move to Wyoming. It’s not where I grew up, but it really fits in with who I am. I love living out there, with my horses and my dogs.”

“It’s beautiful and peaceful out there,” Abby agreed.

“Although there’s fuck all to do there,” McGee complained.

Gibbs laughed. “You didn’t want to go riding or hiking, McGee.”

“There was three feet of snow on the ground!” McGee objected. “I’m from LA. I grew up in LA. I don’t really dig the cold that much, and honestly, hiking in three feet of snow sounds more like torture than fun.”

Gibbs laughed at that.

“Not to mention it really is remote,” Mike added.

“Gibbs doesn’t even have internet there!” Ziva complained.

“We do now,” Gibbs mumbled.

“What was that?” Kate asked. “You have internet now?”

“Uh-huh,” Gibbs shrugged and nodded.

“When the hell did _this_ happen?” McGee exclaimed. “Last time I visited, my manager just about cried because she couldn’t get a hold of me out there.”

“Last year,” Gibbs said.

“Who made you get it?” Abby wanted to know.

“Ernie…”

Abby looked perplexed, going through the people that Gibbs employed and knew out there. “Ernie Yost?” she asked.

Gibbs nodded.

“Ernie Yost made you get the internet?” she almost screamed.

Gibbs nodded again.

She burst out laughing, as did Kate, Ziva, Mike and McGee.

“Who’s Ernie Yost?” Vance asked.

“He’s a hundred year old veteran of World War II,” Abby wheezed. “At least a hundred. No lie.”

“My foreman’s grandfather,” Gibbs clarified.

“He’s a former Marine and is a recipient of the Medal of Honor,” Abby added. “And the sweetest man ever.”

“ _Oorah_!” Gibbs intoned enthusiastically.

“Wow!” Vance exclaimed.

“He’s an amazing man who’s lived an amazing life,” Gibbs agreed.

“And he’s the one who made you get the internet?” Vance asked.

Gibbs shrugged. “He even made me get wifi. Told me he couldn’t watch his shows on Netflix while he was visiting if I didn’t.”

Abby was almost falling out of her chair with laughter.

“When Mr Yost tells me to do something, I do it,” Gibbs grimaced. “I know how to take orders.”

There were dumb question, and thoughtful questions. Questions directed to the whole cast. It was interesting and not so uncomfortable that Gibbs wanted to run screaming from it. He was enjoying himself well enough. Until a posse of Stormtroopers marched in formation up to the microphone.

“Wow!” Kate exclaimed. “That’s dedication. Well done! I almost wish that Vader was among you.”

“We do ask that you take your mask off to ask your question,” Vance prodded gently.

“Sure,” came the muffled response. The one at the mike glanced at his team of people dressed in Stormtrooper armor and they nodded back at him. Gibbs realized that the armor they wore weren’t homemade nor were they one of the flimsy, store bought Stormtrooper costumes. What the group was wearing was gleaming, shiny, perfectly white, and looked like it had to have come from Lucasfilm. The blasters they were carrying also looked like bona fide props from the movies.

Gibbs watched with great interest as the Stormtrooper at the mike moved away, making room for another one to walk up to it. The other Stormtroopers settled into position around the new leader, blasters at the ready. The leader, at the mike, slid his blaster under his arm in a comfortable gesture and Gibbs realized that it was in a position that the man could easily flip it back and use it, should they need to do battle, and he wanted to simultaneously applaud and laugh at the group’s dedication to their roles.

“I feel the need to say ‘Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper’,” Abby quipped. “Even though you aren’t. Short, that is.”

No. The man looked to be maybe an inch or so taller than Gibbs, from where he was sitting.

The sound of muffled laughter came from the Stormtrooper. “Huh? Oh! The uniform!” he said the next line, before he pulled his helmet off. “I’m Luke Skywalker. I’m here to rescue you.”

The crowd went wild. “Although I always thought I was more Han Solo than Luke Skywalker,” the man shrugged, smiling easily at them.

Gibbs could see him clearly now and his eyes widened in shock. The rest of the panel were also struck dumb.

“Hi, I’m Tony,” he introduced himself, and Gibbs saw those luscious lips of his moving, forming the words, the green of his eyes so intense and bright, he could see them even from this distance.

“Holy _shit_!” Abby squealed.

“Tony DiNozzo!” Kate gasped.

The crowd began screaming when they projected his image on the big screen. It was Tony DiNozzo, the very same man Gibbs had just added to his list of people to jerk off to, not two hours ago. He was wearing the Stormtrooper armor and an easy smile, his cheeks creased in the most attractive dimples.

“Hi, I am such a big fan of the show,” he said, his tone breathless and a little high. “Seriously! Huge fan!”

The audience went crazy and Vance had to yell to get them to quiet down. The Stormtroopers flanking the man were holding the hordes off of him now.

“You’re either very brave, or very stupid,” Franks told him. “To put yourself in this situation.”

“I know which one my manager said to me earlier,” Tony returned easily, his smile open and charming. “Except add an expletive or two.”

“You’d better ask your question, if you have one that is, before we have a riot on our hands,” Vance told him.

Gibbs wondered if this was some kind of publicity stunt, although he wouldn’t think that given what he’d heard about the man so far, that Tony DiNozzo would need their help to publicize his new movie.

“Oh, I do have a question. Like I said before, I am a huge fan of the show and was one of the millions who just about cried when you went off the air,” Tony stared at them, his gaze intense. He rolled his eyes at the deafening screaming that accompanied his words. “Come on, guys. Let me fanboy here for a second, all right? Let me get my question out and then we can all scream together. I promise, I’ll scream and cry with you, too. OK?”

The roar of approval was unmistakable, making Tony grin.

Tony shook his head. “OK. Now, that the interruptions are done… I wanted you to know that I was one of the people who pretty much followed all of the personal interactions each character had going. You know, who they spoke to, who they smiled at a certain way, who each of you might have hooked up with or any suggestion of any kind of relationship, both platonic and romantic. We know that we never got to see any romantic relationships come out of the show, and I would bet that that’s only because it wasn’t allowed to continue. My question is really for Mike Franks, as the creator and writer of _Coleoptera_. I’d like to know if you had in mind a specific relationship, especially for the Bossman, Captain Shiny Boots, when you first conceived of the show, and if that thought might have changed after you cast the show and saw the dynamics between the actors.”

The crowd roared their agreement with the question.

“You’re not of the Captain and Lana school of thought?” Franks asked, Lana being the character Kate had played. She had been the co-pilot and his second in command, and had been the most popular character that people wanted the Captain to be romantically involved with.

“I could be persuaded, I suppose,” Tony made a face. “But was that what _you’d_ thought?”

Mike paused and hmmed for a moment. “Before the show was cast and before I saw everyone’s interactions, I had thought that we were headed towards a Captain and Lana relationship. The usual, push and pull, will they won’t they, sort of thing. And then after we cast the show and shot the pilot, I thought, well, that could definitely work, but I could also see the Captain maybe even with Galadra. I thought Gibbs had great chemistry with both Kate and Ziva.” Galadra was the character Ziva had played, the strong arm, the muscle of the crew.

Tony made another face. “Not Galadra,” he shook his head. “Galadra and Maggie seemed way too much like sisters or daughters to the Captain.” Maggie was Abby’s character.

“You think so?” Mike asked.

“Definitely,” Tony nodded vehemently. “Am I right?” he asked the audience. And they screamed their agreement. Tony waited until things quieted down again. “And after the first season?”

Mike smiled at him. “So you caught that?”

Tony gave him a guileless look. “Caught what?”

“The breadcrumbs we were sneakily trying to drop?”

He grinned. “Was it _that_ sneaky?”

“I don’t know. Didn’t seem like there were that many who shipped them,” Mike said. “Did you?”

“Holy shit, yeah,” Tony nodded. “ _Definitely_ the Captain and Alan. They most definitely did it for me.”

Mike laughed and Gibbs gaped. Tony DiNozzo was not only a fan of the show, but fan enough to have caught the microscopic hints that Mike had put out that maybe the Captain would be more likely to end up with Alan – played by McGee – instead of any of the women.

“Nice job figuring us out,” Mike told him. “You really are a fan of the show. Because yeah, I thought after the first season that the Captain and Alan might have had something cooking.”

Tony blushed becomingly and smiled. “I _really_ am a huge fan of the show,” he said emphatically. “Also a huge, huge fan of Mr Gibbs’ work. Thank you, Mr Gibbs. You totally inspired me. Your body of work and your attitude and your work ethic. Thank you.”

“Me?” Gibbs couldn’t help but ask, not even able to tell the man to drop the mister and just call him Gibbs. “My _work ethic_? I’m a bastard. Ask anyone.”

“What you did, and how you worked, it helped me decide not to hide who I was,” Tony said proudly. “My first agent had been deathly afraid that it would come out that I’m not exactly straight and that I would be unemployable because of it. He told me to hide the fact that I like men, too, and pray that nobody ever found out. That it would be the ‘death of my promising career’ – that’s a direct quote. But when you refused to capitulate and play the game and you were true to yourself, I decided that I would be as well. Switched agents and managers, and here I am.”

The crowd went wild. Another Stormtrooper put their hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper something in his ear. Tony nodded and smiled at the panel. “Thank you for answering my question, and seriously, I am a huge fan of the show, and Mr Gibbs, I have to say that you’ve been in my fantasies for a long, _long_ time. This was a dream come true for me. Thank you!” he winked at Gibbs before he pulled the helmet back on. “Come on guys, let’s scream for _Coleoptera_!” he yelled, his voice muffled, and the Stormtroopers easily rearranged themselves and Tony melted into their ranks and became indistinguishable as they marched out in perfect formation, the crowd absolutely wild and screaming.

It took Vance several minutes to finally calm the crowd. Gibbs found himself blushing and his heart pounding as both Abby and Kate were punching his arms. Did Tony DiNozzo, the current hottest movie star in Hollywood according to his driver today, just say that Gibbs had factored in _his_ fantasies? And just this morning Gibbs had thought that the man’s lips were decadent and wasted to do anything but suck his cock? Holy shit. Gibbs couldn’t stop himself from blushing profusely.

Finally the next person was up at the mike.

“Follow that, why don’t you,” McGee teased the poor thing.

Gibbs couldn’t have recounted what all happened next, but he remembered the heat of Tony’s gaze on him, and he couldn’t help but want to respond. He was teased about it at the next panels that he was made to participate in, and outwardly, he took it with his usual stoicism. But inside, his stomach was filled with butterflies and his dick kept twitching with interest. Gibbs couldn’t wait to get out of San Diego and go home to his ranch and the horses and the quiet and calm of the world there, where everything made sense and nothing was out of place.

[](https://i.imgur.com/1f21Rrt.jpg)


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

[](https://i.imgur.com/pag5frO.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_   
_OMG!!!! @Tony_Di and phalanx of Stormtroopers asked qs at #Coleoptera #SDCC reunion panel! Was @Tony_Di flirting with LJ Gibbs? He’s a “big fan”! :O_

[picture of Tony dressed as a Stormtrooper, flanked by other Stormtroopers, speaking into the microphone at the _Coleoptera_ panel]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gibbs’ phone rang and he picked it up when he saw that it was Abby. “Yeah,” he answered curtly, as was his way.

“Check your email.”

“I don’t…”

“Unh-unh, Gibbs. You said Ernie Yost made you get wifi. Check your email now,” Abby ordered him.

Sighing, Gibbs trudged into his office and kicked Gary off the computer. Gary was his foreman and Ernie’s grandson. He clicked on his email and saw that Abby had sent him a link.

“What’s this?” he asked her.

“Click on it!”

“Gary told me not to…”

“The link is from me. I promise you there are no viruses on the other end of it,” Abby told him impatiently.

Gibbs sighed loudly as he clicked on the link. His web browser opened to youtube and he saw that it was Tony DiNozzo on a talk show. “What _is_ this, Abs?” he growled.

“Just watch it. Then call me back,” Abby took a page out of Gibbs’ playbook and hung up on him.

Gibbs growled under his breath before he played the clip.

“Hi, everyone, our first guest of the evening is Tony DiNozzo!” the host – Gibbs wasn’t entirely sure which one he was, he’d stopped paying attention since before Letterman and Leno went off the air – announced, to deafening screams.

Tony popped out, wearing an elegant suit and tie that made him look like a movie star from the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was smiling and waving to the audience as he walked out. He shook hands with the host and took a seat, smiling and waving at the audience until they quieted down. There were the usual pleasantries, and Gibbs could hear the sincerity in DiNozzo’s voice when he spoke. He was good. Whether he wanted to be or not, DiNozzo was really good and his on screen persona was charming and quirky, and somehow just reeking of honesty.

The clip was a few years old and Tony was there to talk about the first movie he did with Fornell as the director. The one that had surprised everyone by grossing seventy million dollars on its opening weekend. The interview was the week after opening weekend and Tony looked dazed by it.

“So you never expected this kind of response?”

“God, no,” Tony shook his head. “I can’t even believe it. I mean, the entire budget for the movie, even though it’s a Fornell movie, was under what we grossed last weekend!”

“And it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop for a while!”

“I guess. Maybe? I don’t know,” Tony threw up his hands.

“It’s a truly amazing movie. I absolutely loved it and I, for one, am not surprised that it’s performed like this.”

“Well thank you, but you know, this business is capricious. Who knows what the hell this means for us…”

“Hopefully, a sequel?” the host asked slyly.

Tony laughed. “Maybe. I suppose it’s a real possibility now.”

“Didn’t you sign for a three picture deal?”

“That’s standard, but seriously, how many of us actually get to do the three pictures we signed up for?” Tony shrugged. “No, man. This is amazing. I can’t believe it. I’m just grateful and humbled by you all,” Tony smiled his charming smile at the audience and they had to pause to allow the fans to applaud and scream.

“Now I have to ask you something more serious,” the host cleared his throat. “There’s the issue of your… sexuality?”

“That I’m bisexual, you mean?” Tony asked bluntly.

“Yeah. That you’re bisexual.”

“What’s your question, or was that it, because seriously? I’ve been openly seeing men and women practically my entire career. I’m not suddenly going to jump back in the closet at this point in time. That ship has sailed, my friend,” Tony laughed.

“No, no. We’re on network television and I’ve been told to be careful how I word my question.”

“Just lay it on me, dude. Hit me with it,” Tony told him.

“Well, if you’re cool with it, what I’d like to know is, do you think that your sexuality has been an obstacle in your career? And now that _Juniper Moon_ is such a huge hit, do you think that you’ll maybe be asked to…”

“Tone it down some with the dudes?” Tony raised his eyebrows.

“It’s been known to happen,” the host objected.

“True, it has been known to happen,” Tony agreed. “Let’s start with your first question. Has my sexuality been an obstacle in my career? Blunt answer, absolutely. Would it have been easier if I’d kept it a secret and dated men on the down low, or just skipped them altogether? Yes. Would I have maybe had more gigs if I’d been less open about my sexuality? Probably. I can’t tell you for certain how many roles I didn’t get because of my sexuality, because you know, this is acting. For every role that we do get, there are hundreds and hundreds of rejections, for reasons that have nothing to do with one’s sexuality. I don’t know what percentage of the rejections that I’ve received throughout my career has anything to do with the fact that I don’t hide the fact that I like taking it up the *bleep* as much as I like *bleep*ing someone, and I honestly have no preference when it comes to the gender of my partners. I’m sure it did factor in to _some_ of those rejections, and I have some idea of the studios and the people who disapprove of me because of it. But I can’t give you a number or anything.”

The host nodded and the audience was silent.

“And whether they’ll want me to button it up now that I’m supposedly ‘in the big leagues’, I don’t know. I haven’t had any conversations with anyone about it yet, and if that were to happen, the conversations, I mean, it would absolutely have no bearing on how I choose to live my life,” Tony stated earnestly. “I’m who I am. Take it or leave it. I refuse to put on a mask to pretend that all I’m interested in is vaginas because let me tell you, dicks are just as exciting.”

The crowd cheered him on.

“And if that means you don’t get some roles?” the host asked.

“Then I don’t get some roles. How would that be any different from my life before _Juniper Moon_?” Tony threw up his hands.

“You have a refreshing way of looking at things. Most people in this industry…”

“Look,” Tony said. “My father disowned me when I was twelve and sent me off to boarding schools for the rest of my high school career. I’m used to rejection. I’d prefer to be rejected for who I am, than for who I’m pretending to be.”

“That is surprisingly healthy,” the host agreed. “Have you always thought this way, or did something or someone inspire you? It would have been difficult to have been sent away at age twelve.”

“I’ve had to learn to stand on my own from a young age,” Tony said seriously. “I’ve learned the only person I can truly rely on is myself. So if I can’t be true to my own self, then I can’t rely on me. So then who would I rely on?”

“That makes sense.”

“But also, I have to say that I’ve watched several actors who have decided to live their lives the way they want to, and to hell with what the industry or society thinks is appropriate and I learned from them. I’ll give you as an example, LJ Gibbs. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but I’ve heard that he’s a terror on set. He doesn’t care to be pleasant or nice, he’s who he is and if someone hires him then they’re going to take him as he is or they can take a hike,” Tony said. “Gibbs is one of my heroes because of it.”

“He’s not bisexual though, is he?”

Tony shrugged. “How would I know if he’s gay, straight or whatever? I told you I’ve never met him. His sexuality is immaterial because you know, a person’s sexuality _should_ be immaterial when we’re talking about someone and their work. Sexuality would absolutely be material if we’re talking about who someone is seeing, but if we’re talking about their career and their body of work and whether someone is hire-able or not, sexuality doesn’t have a place in this conversation and _shouldn’t_ have a place in it.”

The audience applauded and cheered loudly.

“All I’m saying is that Gibbs is one of those people who just refuses to play the Hollywood game. He doesn’t give interviews, he doesn’t give a shit if someone likes him or doesn’t like him. He chooses what he wants to work on and he gives it his all. Even if he scares all the PAs away, look at the work he produces? The roles he’s played? It’s a testament to his talent that he doesn’t even need to live here and schmooze with people, like the rest of us have to do, and he can define for himself what it is that makes _him_ happy and he gets to choose how to live his life in a way that makes _him_ happy,” Tony’s tone was sincere and fierce. “I think that takes balls. His sexuality doesn’t matter. He’s choosing to live his life his own way. That’s the lesson that I learned from just observing him.”

“I see,” the host nodded. “Was there a time when you weren’t quite so open about your sexuality?”

Tony laughed. “Of course. Come on. This is the real world.”

“Was this why you were disowned?”

Tony shook his head. “I don’t talk about my relationship with my father, but no, that is not why I was disowned. I was twelve at the time, and still figuring things out. I was just a kid. I remained mostly closeted throughout most of my college years, in fact. Sure I went out with some guys, and my frat brothers knew the truth about me and most of them were fine with me the way I was, but you might remember that I played football.”

“For Ohio State.”

“Go Buckeyes!” Tony cheered, raising a fist, and the audience cheered.

“And football players aren’t exactly the most open minded people?”

“It’s a well known fact that homosexual athletes tend to stay in the closet until their careers are over,” Tony said calmly. “I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, it is what it is. Especially back then.”

“Right.”

“I was a starting tight end and I had eyes on the NFL,” Tony sighed wistfully.

“Do you think you would have made it?”

“I had a good shot,” Tony nodded. “Scouts were coming to see me. I was being wined and dined, and I was only a junior at the time. But then we had that big game against Michigan and a damn Wolverine took me down and broke my leg in three different places. It killed my NFL career, right there.”

“Wow. That had to have hurt.”

“In more ways than one,” Tony grinned easily. “I was moping around after that, trying to figure out what to do with my life. Still hobbling around on crutches, needing money because my athletic scholarship was done after the whole football debacle, and everyone who’d been interested in me before the injury had vanished into thin air. I was spending Christmas in LA with one of my frat brothers who’d taken pity on me and brought me home with him, and we were walking down Hollywood Boulevard when a guy gave me his card and said to call him after I was out of the crutches.”

“ _Really_?”

“Yup,” Tony nodded and made a face. “He represented a modeling company. That’s how I got my start.”

“Did you finish college?”

“Of course. I was done with football, and after I signed my first contract to model, they said I couldn’t play basketball either, even though I was healed and my leg was ready to go – which really sucked because we made it to the Final Four the next year and I would’ve been on that team,” he sighed. “I still think about how it might’ve gone for me in Baltimore that year. What experiences could I have had there? Would I have made a difference to the team? To anyone else?”

“Shit, you really are a jock!” the host laughed.

“Oh, you bet your ass I am,” Tony sighed. “Well, now I’m a washed up jock at least.”

The crowd awwwwww-ed in sympathy.

“Nice crowd you have here,” Tony grinned.

“We screen them at the door,” the host replied. “Kick out all the ones who can’t awwww well.”

“Anyway, I was left with a ton of time on my hands, I didn’t have to worry about practice or my part time job anymore because my first gig paid off my senior year of school.”

“This is the Calvin Klein underwear gig?”

Tony nodded. “Yup.”

“And we have a picture here…”

There was a youthful Tony DiNozzo clad only in boxer briefs, pouting at the camera, all lean and lithe, the lines of his body long and smooth, he had toned abs, pecs, and arms. He wasn’t sculpted or densely muscled, but he definitely had the body of an athlete. In the picture, he had a thumb hooked on the waistline of his briefs, teasingly peeling it down a little. Gibbs swallowed, his eyes traveling down the fascinating trail of dark hair from below his navel down to Tony’s crotch and also, he was strangely attracted to Tony’s hipbone jutting out at him. He found the photo compelling and incredibly sexy.

Tony blushed, covering his face. “Man, that whole experience was something else.”

“So you never had any acting aspirations when you were little?”

Tony chuckled at that. “God, no. When I was little I wanted to be an astronaut! I even made my own space suit for Halloween,” Tony shook his head. “Without permission. So there was a bit of fallout for that. But then in college, I was going to play football. That was it. End of story.”

“And I guess the modeling thing worked out for you?” the question was teasing.

“Honestly, it was a relief,” Tony shook his head. “I needed the money to finish school. But there were all these conditions on what I was and wasn’t allowed to do. So, as it turned out, I had all this free time, because I wasn’t allowed to play sports anymore in case I broke my face or whatever. And I’d quit my part time job since I had the Calvin Klein thing. I had so much more time after not having practice twenty to thirty hours a week, work another twenty to thirty hours a week, and on top of that classes and homework. So I turned my attention back to school. Technically I graduated at the end of the summer after my junior year, but I stayed on and did a masters so I could hang out with my frat brothers for another year.”

“What was your masters in?”

“Criminology with a side of behavioral psychology. I’d thought maybe a career in law enforcement after the modeling thing was over. Kind of like Shaq?”

The host snorted with laughter. “Yeah. I guess you’re still waiting for the modeling thing to be over.”

“That day will come, my friend,” Tony said fatalistically. “We all know that everyone in this business has an expiry date.”

“Yours is far, far, far into the future, if you even have one,” the host assure him.

“Thank you. That would be nice, but you never know.”

“So if that day did come, and you weren’t able to act, what would you like to do then? Law enforcement?”

Tony sighed. “I might be too old to break into that career now.”

“So, not a cop? What would you like to do if not a cop or an actor?”

“Hmm… I think I’d like to write,” Tony said, frowning thoughtfully.

“Fiction? Non-fiction? Memoirs?”

“ _Memoirs_! How old do you think I am? I haven’t lived enough to even think about memoirs,” Tony rolled his eyes. “No, man. Fiction, probably.”

“Fiction? Like novels?”

Tony shrugged.

“You’ve already written some stuff!” the host said accusingly.

“It’s entirely possible that I might have,” Tony said nonchalantly. “All done on my own time and hidden away on my hard drive. Nothing has ever seen the light of day. But maybe yeah, one day, maybe I’d like to see if my writing is any good.”

“Would you ever write screenplays?” the man asked, his tone curious.

“I may have one or two of them socked away on my hard drive, yes,” Tony grinned. “But again, it’s hard enough to be taken seriously as an actor. If you start wanting to have delusions of being something else, especially something more serious than an actor, you’d better be *bleep*ing excellent at it or you’ll just be a wanna be. So I’ll hang on to my stuff for a while and keep doing what I’m doing right now.”

“Oh my god, so you’re gorgeous, talented, _and_ you’re smart?” the host turned to the audience. “Are you people listening to this? He’s _single_!”

The interview turned back to the movie that had come out and Tony gushed about his experience with his cast mates and the director, and on the whole Gibbs found him incredibly likeable. He hated to admit it. Not to mention the memory of Tony’s saucy wink at him kept jumping into his head when he was jerking off the last couple of days.

Obediently he dialed Abby back when the clip ended.

“Well? Wasn’t he completely adorable?” Abby demanded.

“He was OK,” Gibbs muttered.

“Awwww, you like him!” Abby cooed.

“I do not.”

“Do too.”

“Abs!”

Abby giggled. “Seriously, you’re one of his role models because you chose to live your life without compromising who you are,” she said. “That’s amazing. He said this years ago so it’s not like he was trying to just butter you up last weekend.”

“Yeah,” Gibbs admitted begrudgingly.

“And he is so incredibly beautiful. Did you see his eyes?” Abbby sighed.

And his lips, Gibbs’ traitorous brain added. His beautiful cocksucking lips.

“And his lips. Man, even _I_ can imagine them wrapped around your dick,” Abby said.

“ _Abs_!” Gibbs found himself flustered and blushing. Was he that transparent? Abby knew that he wasn’t entirely straight, but she also knew that after Shannon’s betrayal, Gibbs had pretty much lost his sex drive and had never truly found anyone else attractive after that.

“And he’s smart and thoughtful. Very articulate,” Abby continued, blithely ignoring Gibbs. “He wants to be a writer when he grows up. He has a masters degree.”

“What are you trying to do here, Abs? Why are you talking him up?”

“You should give him a call.”

“I don’t have his number.”

“I saw the look he gave you, and I saw you blushing.”

“That means nothing.”

“It doesn’t mean nothing,” Abby countered. “You’ve been in limbo since Shannon. You know you have. I’ve seen you around other people and I’ve seen the most beautiful women flirt with you, and you just don’t even notice it. But _you noticed him_.”

There was no way anyone wouldn’t have noticed Tony DiNozzo, Gibbs thought. Dead people would sit up to get a better look at the beautiful man.

“Abs,” Gibbs sighed tiredly. “I don’t have his number. And I don’t date. End of story.”

“Awwww, Giiiibbbbbs,” Abby wailed.

“I know you mean well, Abs. But I need you to butt out.”

Gibbs hung up on her. But the next day, he received a package from Abby that contained the DVDs of all of the movies Tony had appeared in, from bit roles to lead roles. If Gibbs had a phone that could text, or if Gibbs knew how to text if he had a phone that could do it, he would’ve sent her a rude message. As it was, he stared at the DVDs and sighed.

“What did you get?” Ernie Yost asked. The old man was there visiting his grandson. Gibbs always asked him to stay as long as he wanted and gave him free reign over his ranch, so Ernie tended to always be around.

“Movies.”

Yost picked up a couple of them, bringing them up close to his face to see. “Oh, that Tony DiNozzo is amazing. You should definitely watch these. Who sent them?”

“Abby.”

“Do you even have a DVD player?”

Gibbs glared at the old man.

“Well?”

“Nope,” Gibbs bit out.

“Here,” the old man handed him his laptop. “You can use my laptop. Don’t get jizz on it, Marine, or you’re buying me a new one.”

Gibbs couldn’t help but squawk at that. Yost cackled as he trundled away with his walker. Gibbs stayed up for days watching the DVDs and just inhaling Tony’s body of work. The man’s talent took his breath away. Tony inhabited each role and shed his own skin. He absolutely believed in who he was at that moment in time, it was impossible not to be swept away into that belief. Even that movie that became an overnight blockbuster, that that scumbag Fornell had directed, that movie was amazing. Tony absolutely carried the entire movie and there was no way that it would have been even half as good had they cast someone else.

Anyone who rejected Tony for a role purely because he was openly bisexual was an absolute idiot. That much was clear.

When he returned the laptop, Ernie made a show of wiping it down with antibacterial wipes, cackling the whole time. Gibbs just shrugged and grinned. Yeah. Maybe it was a good idea to wipe it down given he had perhaps indulged himself a few times. Tony had been in several R-rated movies and there had been some steamy sex scenes, including one with another male actor. Gibbs would be lying if he said it hadn’t affected him. Gary Yost, Ernie’s grandson, ran out of the room screaming about needing brain bleach, making both Ernie and Gibbs laugh.

A week later, Gibbs was looking through the mail and about ready to toss out more envelopes with what looked like invitations and tickets. One of them caught his eye. Jenny had put a neon fuchsia post it on the envelope and it looked like an envelope that had been hand delivered to her.

 _From Tony DiNozzo_ , Jenny had scrawled on the neon pink post it. _He walked in to the office and gave this to me himself_.

So instead of tossing it out, Gibbs couldn’t help but tear it open, the butterflies in his stomach almost overwhelming him. Inside were two tickets to the LA premiere of Tony’s new movie. He’d also included a handwritten note.

_Dear Mr Gibbs,_

_I know this is absolutely presumptuous of me but I hope you will do me the honor of coming to the premiere of my new movie. I’ve included two tickets, so you can feel free to invite someone as your plus one. However, I would like to let you know that I am planning to go stag, and if you were comfortable enough, I would love it if you would allow me to sit with you. That is, if you were to come to the premiere._

_I know you don’t do this sort of thing. So thank you for your time._

_Yours,_   
_Anthony D. DiNozzo, Jr._

Gibbs stared at the note. Tony had scrawled his phone number in a post script. He looked at his watch, and sighed. He picked his phone up and put it back down three times before he dialed the number.

“DiNozzo,” the husky voice at the end of the line _did_ things to Gibbs’ dick.

He cleared his throat, feeling awkward all of a sudden. “Uh, hi. This is Gibbs.”

“What? Oh my god! Hi!” Tony’s voice was at least an octave higher now. “Oh my god. I can’t believe you called me! Fucking hell! I mean, hello, Mr Gibbs.”

“Just Gibbs,” Gibbs told him.

“Oh right, of course. Whatever you want, Mr Gibbs, I mean Gibbs. Just Gibbs.”

Gibbs rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he growled.

Tony giggled at that. “Shit, I have to tell you that I have the most inappropriate thoughts whenever you growl and get grumpy in your movies. And the effect is magnified when speaking to you in person. And I can’t believe I just said that out loud. To you. Oh my god.”

Gibbs wanted to laugh out loud, but contained himself. “Got your note,” he said, instead.

“Uh-huh? I didn’t think you’d read it. You did read it, right?”

“DiNozzo…” Gibbs sighed.

“Right, of course you read it. Because you’re calling me and I put my number on the note. So you had to have read it in order to have my number to call me. Although I wouldn’t put it past you to have people who know everything including this number that like only five people know…”

“DiNozzo!”

“Right. Shutting up now, Gibbs.”

“What are you asking me, exactly?”

“What?”

“The note.”

“Oh right. Right. Umm… would you be my date to the premiere?” Tony sounded breathless.

“Fornell directed this one, right?”

“I know you aren’t his biggest fan, but yes, unfortunately he did direct this whole trilogy. But we can keep far away from him if you have a problem with that.”

Gibbs grunted.

“I mean, I understand you guys might have history…”

Gibbs snorted. “It’s fine.”

“If you don’t want to do the premiere, would you still maybe go on a date with me? It doesn’t have to be public if you don’t want it. We could just stay in. I’m actually a good cook.”

Gibbs grunted again.

“Or, you know, if you’re not interested in me, you know, sexually, I’d be happy to just hang out with you and get to know you. Because you know… You’re like one of my heroes and I…”

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs interrupted the yabba yabba, amusing as it was. And it was. Amusing. Surprisingly so. “You’re babbling.”

“I do that… when I’m flustered. Sorry. Sorry.”

Gibbs snorted and rolled his eyes. “I’m interested,” he said softly, imbuing the word with unmistakable meaning.

“Really?” Tony squeaked. “Oh man. That’s, that’s, that’s just awesome.”

“Hmm.”

“And you know, just for the record, I know I’m like the biggest fanboy and I’ve had a crush on you for years and years, and I’ve watched all of your movies and read everything I could about you, not that there’s that much out there…”

“Stalker much, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked mildly.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I just admitted to internet stalking you,” Tony groaned. “This is so not how I envisioned this conversation to happen.”

“No?”

“Well, for one thing, I thought for sure you’d just shut me down.”

“That’s still an option,” Gibbs grumbled.

Tony laughed before he cut it off. “You _were_ kidding, weren’t you?” he asked anxiously.

Gibbs couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Yeah,” he reassured him.

“Oh thank god,” Tony sighed. “Before I babble on and on, I just want to let you know that I’m really not just a fan. I’ve always respected you and what you’ve done with your life. That you didn’t just decide to play their games. That you’re here on your own terms. I truly respect that, and it really helped me choose to allow myself to openly be who I am, even if it meant I would be unemployable.”

“Thanks,” Gibbs said, uncomfortable at the sincerity in Tony’s voice.

“So, would you go on a date with me?”

“Sure.”

Gibbs could hear the whispered cheer from Tony and he wondered if the man was doing a victory dance wherever he was. He seemed like the kind of man who’d do that sort of thing.

“The premiere? Or something more private?”

Gibbs took a moment to consider it. “I don’t know if I’m ready for private,” he muttered. Private would mean being alone with Tony and just being in the car looking at Tony’s face on a billboard had made him get hard like a teenager, what would it be like to be in a much more intimate setting with the man, just the two of them? Being out in public would be a pain in the ass but at least he wouldn’t have to fight to stop himself from mauling the man. Did he mention the fantasies he’s already had about the man’s lips in relation to his cock? Yeah. Better to be out in public and even watched, even if it’s by the paparazzi. Even if it’s as public an event as a movie premiere.

“So? What are you saying?” Tony asked carefully. “The premiere then?”

Gibbs sighed. Oh, who was he kidding? He’d already jerked off to Tony’s movies and the memory of Tony saying that Gibbs had been in his fantasies for a long, long time quite a bit in the last couple of weeks.

“Yeah,” he bit out. “I’ll be there.”

“ _Really_?” Tony squeaked out.

“Really.”

“Holy _shit_!” Tony squealed.

“But DiNozzo,” Gibbs said, in a threatening voice. “This had better be good.”

“Oh my god! I promise! It will be ama…” Gibbs hung up in the middle of Tony’s sentence and smiled to himself, picturing Tony’s outrage at being hung up on. He didn’t think that very many people would do that to him, especially since he’d become such a big star. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to take him down a peg, but it just amused him to get those funny sounds Tony made when he teased him. What he wouldn’t give to hear what Tony said after he’d hung up. Gibbs couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the younger man.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

[](https://i.imgur.com/UEZnqkY.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_While @Tony_Di denies being in a relationship with LJ Gibbs, we have to wonder if this true. Sparks flew between them @ #SDCC. They’re delicious together #RootingforTibbs_

[Picture of Gibbs staring in fascination at Tony DiNozzo from where he was sitting with the panel, blue eyes wide, an almost smile tugging at his lips]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gibbs wondered when it was his ranch started paying so much attention to his personal life. He’d done a bunch of movies, won an Oscar, come home injured from some stunt gone wrong on set, and a bunch of other things, and they’d acted as if they had no idea that he did anything but help them muck out the stables, groom the horses, and ride them. Gibbs pulled his weight on the ranch, doing everything that needed to be done, just like anyone else, letting Gary be the one who made the decisions on assignments. Even when he’d won an Oscar, nobody had said anything. Just kind of patted him on the back and nodded at him.

But now, Tony DiNozzo was apparently being asked about him on every interview he was on. And he’d been doing a lot of interviews, as they tended to do to get the hype going for his upcoming movie. Gibbs was sitting in the basement sanding down a chair leg that he had carved earlier when Gary came down the stairs. Gibbs looked up, pushing his safety goggles up his forehead.

“Grandad wants you to watch something with him,” Gary muttered.

“What?” Gibbs was puzzled.

“Grandad wants you to come up and sit with him.”

“Why?”

Gary gave him a look. Yeah. Gary wasn’t going to question his grandfather, veteran of World War II and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Gibbs sighed, put down the chair leg and pulled off his safety goggles. He wasn’t going to question Ernie either.

He trudged up the stairs and found the old man sitting in the recliner he’d bought especially for Ernie, feet up and relaxed.

“Ernie? You asked for me?” Gibbs asked.

The little old man gestured to the couch and Gibbs sat down. “What’s up?” he asked again.

“I DVR-ed this. Watch this,” Ernie pointed the clicker at the TV.

Gibbs saw that Tony DiNozzo was on the screen, smiling and laughing at the applause.

“He’s on with Jimmy Fallon. I like that Jimmy kid. He’s funny,” Ernie said.

Gibbs gave Ernie a puzzled look. “What’s this got to do with me?”

Ernie fast forwarded the recording a little before he started playing it, turning up the volume. Gibbs gave him another puzzled look but turned his attention to the TV. Not that it was a hardship to pay attention to Tony DiNozzo.

“I know you’re here to talk about the new movie, but everyone’s been wanting to know, what the hell is going on between you and LJ Gibbs?” Fallon asked.

Tony looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

“He went to the San Diego Comic-Con, and he _never_ does any press or publicity or interviews. And then you _conveniently_ show up to ask him questions at his panel? Is there something going on between the two of you?”

Tony laughed and blushed. “Is it so difficult to believe that I’m just a huge fan of _Coleoptera_?” he asked.

“Well what about this then?”

Jimmy played a clip and it was Tony projected on the big screen at the Comic-Con.

“Hi, I am such a big fan of the show,” the Tony in the recording said, sounding breathless and a little squeaky. Gibbs found himself smiling and thinking that that was adorable, before he kicked himself. He wasn’t supposed to find Tony DiNozzo adorable, especially if he was watching the man with Ernie Yost in the room. “Seriously! Huge fan!” Tony’s voice continued.

Jimmy stopped the recording and the studio audience applauded and cheered uproariously. Tony was still blushing and covering his face. “I told you, I love _Coleoptera_!” he groaned. “That’s got nothing to do with LJ Gibbs.”

“Yeah? What about this then?” Jimmy pointed to the camera and another clip played.

“Thank you for answering my question, and seriously, I am a huge fan of the show, and Mr Gibbs, I have to say that you’ve been in my fantasies for a long, _long_ time. This was a dream come true for me. Thank you!” Gibbs watched as the Tony in the recording winked saucily at Gibbs before he pulled the Stormtrooper helmet back on and began inciting the crowd into screaming for Gibbs’ canceled show.

Tony’s face was crimson when the cameras turned back to him in the studio. He had his face in his hands, and he was shaking with helpless laughter.

“What about _that_ little nugget, huh? You winked at the man, Tony,” Jimmy crowed at him. “You _winked_ at him. This man makes people run screaming from him and you had the audacity to wink at him.”

Tony groaned and peeked between his fingers at the audience who absolutely went crazy. Tony shook his head and took deep breaths before he uncovered his face. “Look, we all have the people we fantasize about. I won’t pretend that I don’t find LJ Gibbs attractive and I dare any one of you people to disagree with me,” he pointed at Jimmy and then the audience. “But in my defense, I was totally high on adrenaline right then and I don’t know what came over me at the end there.”

“Do you regret the wink?”

Tony laughed. “More like I regret I didn’t blow him a kiss while I had the chance,” he joked.

“So there’s nothing between you and LJ Gibbs?” Fallon asked again.

“I’ve never even _met_ the man in person,” Tony told him, looking him straight in the eye.

Gibbs snorted with laughter. Tony didn’t exactly answer Fallon’s question, but he’d told the absolute truth. They had never met in person. Just from across the room at the SDCC’s panel Q and A session, and then one phone call after that. So yeah, even though Gibbs was going to the premiere of the movie with him, they hadn’t yet properly met in person so he hadn’t told a lie.

“Is that so? So you didn’t coordinate that, being at the Con at the same time?”

“There’s nothing to coordinate,” Tony insisted.

“So you just wanted to go to the panel? Not because you knew LJ Gibbs?”

“I’ve never really met any of the cast of _Coleoptera_ ,” Tony laughed again. “You have no idea how much I had to beg and what I had to promise my manager to let me go to the _Coleoptera_ panel,” he shook his head. “I may or may not owe Tom my first born. Although as he put it, he doesn’t want anything to do with any spawn of mine.”

“Although the Stormtrooper phalanx was cute.”

“That was _awesome_ , wasn’t it?” Tony’s eyes brightened and he smiled wide and huge. “I got to pretend to be a Stormtrooper _and_ I got to see the cast of _Coleoptera_ on stage in person!”

Ernie paused the recording on Tony’s dazzling smile, his brilliant eyes twinkling with mischief. Gibbs had to tear his eyes away from the sight.

“You like this kid?” Ernie asked him.

Gibbs shrugged. “He seems nice enough.”

“Good kid. Good head on his shoulders,” Ernie said.

“How would you know?”

Yost glared at him, and Gibbs smiled and raised his hands, giving in.

“You had Dorneget make arrangements for you to be in LA this weekend,” Ernie said. It was a statement and not a question.

Gibbs nodded.

“You going there to see this kid?” Ernie jerked his chin at the TV.

Gibbs shrugged. “He asked me out,” he finally admitted.

“And you said yes?”

Gibbs nodded.

Ernie cackled at that. “Good,” he said. “I’ll record a few more of these interviews for you. He’s funny and smart. Maybe this will keep that skip i’ve seen in your step since San Diego.”

Gibbs choked on his own saliva at that. “What?” he wheezed, trying to catch his breath after all that coughing.

Ernie gave him a knowing smile.

“You know what? Never mind. I’m going back to the basement,” Gibbs muttered.

“Don’t think Gary didn’t tell me that Dorneget sent you your own laptop!” Ernie yelled as he was exiting the room. “So you can watch his movies whenever you like without me knowing about it!”

“I’m leaving now!” Gibbs yelled back, smiling to himself as he walked down to the basement.

But instead of going back to working on the chair leg, he ended up sitting at his workbench with his new laptop, clicking through related links on youtube and finding more interviews that Tony DiNozzo had done. It was after one of these that he thought he should have maybe heard from DiNozzo. He was flying out to LA in two days. Dorneget, his PA, was picking him up at LAX and ferrying him straight to his hotel. The premiere was black tie so he’d even had Dorneget get his tux out of storage and dry cleaned in preparation. He pulled his cell phone out and stared at it. He’d memorized DiNozzo’s number, and no, he wasn’t going to think about why it was he’d memorized the man’s phone number. It wasn’t that late in LA yet so he pressed the buttons, dialing him.

The phone rang for a while before the call was answered.

“Yeah, DiNozzo,” came that husky greeting, soft and sleepy, followed by a yawn.

Gibbs checked his watch again. It wasn’t that late. “Did I wake you?” he asked.

“Who is this?” Tony sounded confused and still mostly asleep. Gibbs wondered what he looked like, barely awake and eyes sleep heavy. He wondered if Tony was naked or if he slept in his Calvin Kleins, which Gibbs could vividly picture.

“It’s Gibbs,” he clarified.

“What?” he heard the sounds of bedclothes rustling. “Wow. It’s you. Hi.”

“Hi,” Gibbs smiled, wondering if Tony was sitting up in bed if he was already in bed. “You’re not the party-er you’re purported to be if you’re already asleep.”

“In New York,” Tony mumbled. “Doing the _Today_ show tomorrow morning.”

Gibbs felt a little sorry for calling now. If Tony was on the east coast then it was pretty late, and he’d been on the morning talk shows before. Call time for those things were obscenely early, especially if one’s body was on Pacific time. “Sorry to wake you.”

“No, it’s good to hear from you,” Gibbs could hear the smile in Tony’s voice. “Are you canceling on me?” he suddenly sounded anxious.

“Nope. Just confirming,” Gibbs told him.

“Whew,” Tony sighed. “Good.”

Gibbs told him the name of hotel he’d booked.

“Awesome, that’s not far from the theater,” Tony yawned. “How do you want to do this? You want me to pick you up? Or just meet inside? I figure you don’t want to do the red carpet thing, right?”

Gibbs really didn’t want that but he also didn’t feel right just meeting up inside the theater as if he had something to hide, or if he was ashamed of anything.

“You can pick me up,” Gibbs told him shortly.

“And the red carpet hoopla?” Tony asked cautiously. “I don’t want to like, accidentally out you, or force you to speak to people or anything.”

“It’s your movie. I’m just the arm candy,” Gibbs said. “No interviews for me.”

“Really? You’d walk down the red carpet with me?” Tony squeaked.

Gibbs grunted his assent.

“Thanks,” Gibbs could hear the happiness in Tony’s voice. “That’s really cool of you.”

“Also, if something changes, you can call me. You have my number now. You’ve had it since I called you that first time.”

“I didn’t know if you would be OK with me calling you, so that’s why I didn’t. I did send you a text though. Never heard back from you so I figured maybe I should hold off and not you know, pester you or anything.”

“I have a flip phone. It doesn’t do texts. You need something, you call me.”

Tony laughed and laughed at that.

“See you Friday,” Gibbs told him and hung up, even though Tony was still laughing. He smiled to himself. It might be stupid but he really was looking forward to Friday. He wanted to see Tony again and meet him in person. Maybe stare into his eyes in the limo. Maybe he would hold Tony’s hand as they walked down the red carpet. He found himself thinking that that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dorneget had been under strict orders not to let anyone know that Gibbs was going to be in LA for the weekend. Not even Jenny was to know. Gibbs didn’t want the craziness that could accompany his arrival at the airport or hotel so Dorneget would be picking him up from the airport and dropping him off at the hotel on Friday morning. Gibbs was flying home on Sunday, leaving Saturday night open.

Just in case.

It was the first time Gibbs had ever left a night open in LA in case he wanted to see more of anyone. Usually, he flew in, did whatever thing it was he couldn’t weasel his way out of, and flew out on the first available flight, rarely even spending one night in LA if he could help it. He’d gone straight to the airport after the Academy Awards ceremony and his Oscar was sitting on a shelf in his office, being used as Gary’s paperweight. But for this thing with DiNozzo, he’d decided to stay for two nights. He wondered if he was going soft in his old age.

Dorneget was babbling nervously as he drove Gibbs to the hotel. He very rarely saw Gibbs outside of the times when Gibbs was on set filming something. Gibbs had gone through easily twenty PAs before he’d found Dorneget. He was nervous and stammered profusely, but he took the gruffness and bad tempers with a grace that everyone else had lacked, and he still managed to do what Gibbs needed him to do, and keep his mouth shut without being told.

Gibbs grunted every so often in response to what the young man was saying.

“I just need to know that even if you fire Ms Shepard, that I’ll still have a job, you know what I mean?” Dorneget’s words filtered into his consciousness.

“What?” Gibbs asked. Fire Jenny? Why would he do that? What the hell was going on?

Dorneget gave him a scared look. “I don’t know what to think here, Mr Gibbs.”

Gibbs sighed. Dorneget was also one of the few people who wouldn’t stop calling him Mr Gibbs, which always made him think of his father. But the more he tried to intimidate him into stopping, the more the poor kid kept doing it. Gibbs had given up correcting the kid.

“Think about what?” Gibbs was still confused.

“The reason for you to be here in LA,” Dorneget grimaced. “You never come here unless you’re forced to, or unless you’re filming here. And you told me not to tell Ms Shepard that you’re in town. So I thought maybe you’re getting a new manager or something?”

Gibbs stared at the man in shock. “I’m not here to meet with a new manager, Dorneget,” he told him, shaking his head.

“No? Oh good. Because you know, Ms Shepard is _really_ nice for someone in this business. She seems to actually care about you.”

“Jenny’s fine,” Gibbs growled.

“OK. So if someone finds out you’re here, and Ms Shepard asks me questions, what should I say?” Dorneget seemed to be close to hyperventilating.

“Tell her I’m here for a date,” Gibbs grinned at him.

“A _date_?” Dorneget’s voice was so high it was practically a raspy whisper. “You’re dating someone?”

“First date tonight.”

“Oh. _Oh_! But it’s black tie? I did your tux, just like you wanted. I also pulled some other clothes out of storage for you – some nice pants and shirts, a couple of ties. In case you wanted some variety.”

“Thanks. That’s nice of you.”

Dorneget looked like he was about to swallow his tongue when Gibbs thanked him. Gibbs wondered if maybe he’d been too hard on the poor kid.

“It’s a black tie event,” Gibbs said shortly.

“That means people will know. They’ll see you. Take pictures and stuff!” Dorneget practically shrieked.

“I know.”

Looking at Gibbs’ unflappable demeanor seemed to calm the younger man down. “And you’re OK with that?”

Gibbs wasn’t surprised at the question. After all, he was the one who’d refused to do any press, any interviews, and his refusal to appear in public was a well known fact.

“I’m still not giving interviews. But I’m going on this date.”

The man smiled at that. “Fair enough, Mr Gibbs. Well I hope you have a lovely time tonight.”

“Thanks. I hope so too.”

Dorneget dropped him off at the side entrance of the hotel, handing him his room card key and telling him the room number. The room was booked under a fake name, Michael Harmon, and after Dorneget confirmed that he would meet him at that entrance on Sunday morning to drive him back to LAX, Gibbs thanked him again and walked into the hotel. He was wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat to shield his face, and he made it to his room without being recognized. He’d just thrown his hat onto the table and flopped down on the bed when his phone rang.

“Yeah,” he answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Gibbs?”

It was Tony’s voice. “DiNozzo,” Gibbs smiled into the phone.

“Hi, hey. Are you on your way to LA? I wasn’t sure when you were arriving. I know you hate coming here.”

“Just arrived at my hotel.”

“Oh! You’re here in plenty of time then.”

Gibbs grunted a response.

“I was wondering if maybe you’d want to grab a bite to eat after the movie with me?” Tony asked, sounding nervous. “I mean, I’d say we can eat before the movie, but I always get so nervous before these things, and I don’t want to like, throw up on your shoes tonight, which I tend to do if I ate while I’m this nervous. I’d prefer not to puke on you tonight. I like to save that kind of behavior for like, the third date, at least. Fuck. I don’t know what it is about you that makes me go on and on like this.”

“Sure,” Gibbs couldn’t help but grin at the man. “Dinner afterwards sounds good.”

“Yeah? Oh good.”

“No after parties though,” Gibbs told him. “Just dinner.”

“I try not to go to those things anymore,” Tony sighed. “I always drink too much and act like an idiot and then they publish all these stories and photos about Drunk Tony and I promised Tom, my manager, I was done doing that shit.”

“Good.”

There was a short pause, as if Tony was expecting him to say more. “You are a man of few words, Mr Gibbs,” Tony finally chuckled.

“Uh-huh.”

“So the car’ll be there around five, five thirty?”

“Got it.”

“I’ll call and give you a heads up before we get there.”

“There’s a side entrance to the hotel. East side. Fairly private.”

“Sounds good.”

“Meet you there.”

There was a moment of silence before Tony blew out a short breath. “Is it really gauche of me to say that I’m really looking forward to seeing you tonight?” his voice was low and soft, and it did things to Gibbs, going straight down his spine, making desire pool in his belly.

“Me too,” Gibbs told him, just as softly. He couldn’t help but smile into the phone. “See you later.”  
 


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

[](https://i.imgur.com/OOmquQI.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_   
_Juniper Moon Wanes opens 2nite! Already waiting for @Tony_Di 2 arrive on the red carpet. Cant wait to ogle his sexy ass! <3_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When the call came, Gibbs went down to the side entrance and got into the black limousine. He’d been struggling to tie his bow tie for a while now. For his movies, someone usually dressed him in his costumes. Jenny had tied his bow tie herself for his appearance at the Oscars. And before things went to pieces, Shannon had been the one to tie his ties. He’d never actually learned to tie a bow tie and so far, the tie was definitely winning the battle.

The driver closed the door and walked around the front. Tony DiNozzo was waiting inside, smiling nervously at him.

Gibbs smiled back. “Don’t suppose you know how to tie a bow tie, do you?” he asked, pulling the offending tie out of his pocket.

“Oh, I’m an expert,” Tony told him, taking the strip of black cloth. He moved to sit across from Gibbs in the limo, and began to pull Gibbs’ collar up. His movements were crisp and efficient. “I learned when I was a kid.”

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. “Do you come from money?” he asked. As a rule, not very many little boys learned how to tie a bow tie.

Tony made a face. “You could say that, I suppose. My mom was an heiress, but after she died my father pretty much frittered away all her money.”

“Sorry,” Gibbs muttered. Tony never spoke about his parents in any of the interviews that he’d seen. He remembered Tony saying that his father disowned him at some absurdly young age and he never spoke about his mother.

“Eh,” Tony waved it away. “But when she was alive, my mom used to take me to benefits, and galas, and concerts. I learned how to tie a regular tie and a bow tie really young because if I had trouble with a tie, she’d make me wear this sailor suit?” he grimaced. “I still refuse to play a sailor. The sailor outfit would just give me bad flashbacks.”

Gibbs grinned at that. Then he focused his gaze on Tony’s face, brow furrowed in concentration, and he chewed on his bottom lip, the dimples in his cheeks winking in and out, as he worked. He found himself wanting to bite DiNozzo’s bottom lip to see his reaction.

“Kind of weird tying it for someone else though,” Tony murmured absently. “Let’s see… there,” Tony declared, patting Gibbs’ tie and moving back. “All done.”

Gibbs put a hand out to feel it and his tie seemed good. “Thanks.”

Tony blushed at that. “You want something to drink while we make it through this traffic?” he asked.

Gibbs took a bottle of water and watched as Tony waffled in deciding what to drink.

“Wow, you really are nervous,” Gibbs said, when he’d changed his mind yet again. “Not about me, right?”

Tony shot him a guilty look. “Not just about you, although that didn’t help my nerves any,” he confessed.

“Yeah?”

“I usually stress about stuff before they open, you know, will people like it? Will they go see it? Did I do a good enough job trying to play my role? Will the critics love me or hate me? Will they have done a good job at post-production? The usual, you know?”

“It’s out of your hands now.”

“I know that.” He sat, twisting his fingers together, basically wringing his hands.

“Are you more nervous about this premiere than you usually would be?”

“Yeah, you know, it’s the third one and I really don’t want to disappoint the fans. It always sucks when the third and final movie of a trilogy blows,” Tony sighed.

“It’s out of your hands now,” Gibbs repeated. “People will either love it or hate it, but you’ve already done your part, and from what I’ve seen, you always do a good job. Let it go.”

Tony gave him a surprised look. “What do you mean, from what you’ve seen? Have you… have you watched stuff I’ve been in?”

Gibbs found himself blushing as he nodded.

“Really? I heard you didn’t watch movies anymore.”

Gibbs cleared his throat. “Abby Sciuto sent me your movies,” he said.

“What? After I contacted you? After- after you called me?”

“No. Right after the Con.”

Tony looked shocked. “After the Con?”

Gibbs nodded.

“And you actually watched a movie or two?”

All of them, Gibbs stopped himself from saying it. He nodded.

“Wow,” Tony broke into a smile then.

Gibbs couldn’t help but smile back.

“Oh god. You didn’t watch the one with the illogical and completely pointless crime spree and the weird accent, not to mention the ridiculous leather pants they made me put on, did you?” Tony cringed.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow mockingly. Yes. He had seen that movie. It was one of the dumbest movies to have ever been made, but Tony had owned that role and tried to do his best to rescue the flick. The accent – South African, if he recalled the plot correctly – had actually been quite good, and the pants, well, Gibbs had had his eyes glued to his crotch and his ass whenever he was on screen so he wasn’t going to complain about Tony being made to wear tight leather pants. But he wasn’t ever going to tell Tony. It was more fun to keep him guessing.

And guess he did. He groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“You’re good,” Gibbs told him gruffly.

“Yeah?” Tony’s head popped up, eyes wide with surprise and pleasure. “Thanks.”

Gibbs shrugged and smirked a little. “This is also why I choose to never go to these things. That way when my job is done, I’m absolutely done and tucked away safely at home where I don’t have to care whether people liked the movie or not.”

“That’s definitely sounding more and more appealing, let me tell you.”

They smiled at each other and when Tony settled back next to Gibbs, he reached over and put a hand on the younger man’s knees, jiggling up and down with nerves. Tony stilled and looked at him in surprise. He gave the older man a nod and slowly he started to relax. Gibbs took the drink decision out of his hands and handed him a bottle of water, which he took gratefully.

When they arrived at the theater, Tony turned to him. “I would absolutely understand if you want to just meet me inside and skip this whole red carpet craziness,” he said softly.

“Let’s move out,” Gibbs shrugged, appreciating the easy out the man was giving him. But as it turned out, he wanted this. He wanted to go on this public date with Tony DiNozzo. He wanted to be seen with this man that he couldn’t believe was real.

Tony’s smile was radiant. He stepped out of the limo and Gibbs could hear the cheering start, then bent to offer Gibbs his hand. Gibbs took it and let the younger man help him out of the car. There was a moment of surprised silence before the screaming doubled in volume.

“I think you made quite an entrance,” Tony whispered in his ear.

“I’m just the arm candy,” Gibbs whispered back, making Tony throw his head back and laugh. Gibbs offered him his arm and Tony took it with a gracious smile.

They started down the red carpet, stopping often to pose. Tony was also one of those people who was very friendly with the fans, stopping for selfies, photos, even signing some pictures as they walked. Tony was smiling happily, and Gibbs couldn’t help but smirk at the younger man every so often. Gibbs stepped back when they walked up to the first of the reporters, strategically stationed along the red carpet.

Gibbs wasn’t paying too much attention to what was going on. His phone was buzzing. He pulled it out and saw that it was Jenny calling him. She’d probably heard what he was doing. He ignored the call and slipped his phone back in his pocket, looking up when he heard his name. The reporter was trying to get his attention, and he shook his head at her, jerking his chin at Tony. He wasn’t there to be interviewed. He heard Tony talk about the movie, and his cast members, and dance around the topic of Gibbs being there with him every time they stopped to speak to the reporters. They were maybe halfway down the red carpet when Gibbs thought that Tony was starting to frown at reporters when they asked him about Gibbs, not wanting to accept his deflections. Gibbs sighed inwardly. He’d signed up for this, agreed to be Tony’s date to the red carpet premiere of this movie. He appreciated that Tony was absolutely trying not to say anything about him, especially since they’d technically only just met. He didn’t like seeing Tony frown, though.

He stepped forward and took Tony’s hand, lacing their fingers, staring pointedly at the reporter, before looking away.

“I think we’re done here,” Tony said to the person interviewing him, squeezing Gibbs’ fingers, and giving him a small smile, thanking him silently.

Gibbs nodded, smiling back. They walked the rest of the red carpet hand in hand, Tony whispering funny things about the reporters as they walked, and Gibbs found himself smiling at Tony’s witty bon mots more often than not. Tony seemed to be a fount of dirt about many of the people who were supposed to be interviewing him. Gibbs stepped back a little at every reporter’s station, but kept a hold of Tony’s hand throughout, silently assuring him that they were in this together, even if Gibbs wasn’t going to speak.

At the final reporter’s station before the entrance to the theater, the woman was extraordinarily pushy, asking Tony about Gibbs’ presence. Tony’s careful deflections weren’t making her happy, and neither was she letting Tony talk about the movie instead of who he had with him at the premiere. When she interrupted Tony talking about the movie, again, to ask about Gibbs, he’d had enough.

“Look, I’m just his arm candy tonight,” Gibbs growled at her. “Talk to the man about his movie. The one that’s premiering tonight? This is why we’re here.”

Tony stared at him in surprise, before he broke into a wide smile. Gibbs let himself be drawn in and settled into Tony’s side, one arm around his waist now. The reporter was stunned and intimidated as Gibbs gave her his fiercest glare, and Tony chattered on amiably about the new movie before they walked away.

“That was _awesome_ ,” Tony breathed, smothering a laugh in Gibbs’ shoulder as they walked.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and pulled Tony close, breathing in his scent, musky and slightly sharp. Tony smelled good. Tony smelled really good. He couldn’t help but grin as Tony kept giggling to himself as they walked. He pulled Tony’s head close and pressed his lips to his temple, unable to help himself. With a soft sigh, the younger man leaned his head against Gibbs’ shoulder for a moment before he straightened up. He smiled and waved, talked to a few more fans before they disappeared into the theater and were ushered to their seats. Tony stopped to hug a bunch of people, including his cast mates. Fornell was there, hugging Tony as well. Gibbs gave him a baleful look and a raised eyebrow at Shannon who was there with him. She was as beautiful as ever, each strand of her beautiful red hair perfectly in place, her blue eyes wide as she looked at him in shock.

Tony squeezed his fingers and tried to move them along, not lingering to chat with Fornell or Shannon. They were seated next to Ducky Mallard, one of the movie’s other stars, who’d brought his nonagenarian mother as his date. Ducky played Tony’s mentor in the movie. Gibbs knew him a little, having worked with him on one or two small gigs, back before _Coleoptera_. They ended up having a great time watching the movie. Tony was one of those people who chattered throughout the movie, whispering funny things to him about what happened during the filming, or what they’d left out, or things he thought would have to be included in the gag reel. They had a huge tub of popcorn in between them, and Tony was happily chowing down and slurping at the soda he’d been handed. Their fingers brushed together when they accidentally went for popcorn at the same time, and eventually, Gibbs slung an arm around Tony’s shoulder so they could put their heads close together. Easier for Gibbs to hear Tony’s words without them upsetting the entire theater.

Ducky was also fun and refreshingly honest in his assessment of the movie. Tony spent half the time blushing at Ducky’s mother flirting with him and even going so far as to call him her gigolo. Ducky sighed, and explained that his mother was suffering from dementia, but that she’d had a good day today and had wanted to come to see their new movie. Tony smiled and waved it off, attending to the elderly lady’s whims without complaint. Gibbs found that he enjoyed the movie as well as the company. As much as he hated Fornell, the man was a talented director. The movie was breathtaking.

When it ended, they sat back and sighed as the theater broke into applause. Gibbs looked around and saw that a lot of people were crying and he wasn’t exactly completely dry eyed himself.

“I can’t believe they killed you off,” he whispered to Tony.

“We always knew this was the end game,” Tony shrugged. “Even when all we made was the first movie, I knew that this was the vision.”

“I’m glad they kept to it and didn’t just keep milking this for more money,” Gibbs nodded approvingly. “You know? Movie number four, five and onwards?”

“This is the only way this story could end,” Tony agreed.

They said goodbye to Ducky and his mother, Tony yelping and blushing when Mrs Mallard pinched his very pinchable ass, and slowly made their way out of the theater. They were holding hands and the feel of Tony’s hand in his was so natural, they were almost out the door before Gibbs even realized that they still had their fingers interlaced. Tony was giving people one armed hugs and air kisses, without relinquishing his grip on Gibbs’ hand, and he wondered if Tony was even conscious that they were still holding hands. Gibbs even managed to give Fornell and Shannon a civil nod as they said goodbye.

When they were back in the limo, Tony called someone – presumably his PA – and they met up with them soon after. A tiny Asian woman handed Tony a few bags and a six-pack of Negra Modelo. Tony thanked her, addressing her as Michelle, and waited until they were back on the move before he gleefully pulled things out of the paper bags.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him in question.

“Oh, sorry! It’s my usual post-LA premiere Mexican feast!” Tony exclaimed. “I asked my PA to double my usual order tonight so there’s enough for the both of us. Is that OK? We can totally get you something else to eat if that’s what you prefer? I think there’s an In and Out not far from here if you’re not into Mexican? Or do you want something else? Chinese? Pizza?”

“Mexican’s good,” Gibbs grunted.

Tony’s face lit up happily. “This is from my favorite place,” he said, his voice soft. “It’s a quiet little hole in the wall, but the food is amazing. It’s also really reasonably priced and was where I used to go to celebrate a new gig, when I was starting out and hurting for money.”

He handed a few foil wrapped items to Gibbs and a handful of napkins.

“Pretty sure those are burritos. Or maybe a chimichanga or something? I might have to arm wrestle you for the tamales though. They’re muy delicioso.”

Tony reached down under the seat and pulled out a couple of TV trays, spreading one over Gibbs’ lap and one over his. He began setting out his food and salsa and pulled a keyring out of his pocket. Gibbs watched as he used the attached bottle opener – he saw that it was an Ohio State University bottle opener – to open a bottle of Negra Modelo. He offered it to Gibbs. “There’s Corona in the fridge there if that’s what you prefer,” he told him.

Gibbs shrugged and took the beer, taking a mouthful of it to taste. “It’s good,” he told Tony.

They ended up having a nice dinner while being driven around LA in the limo, eating the undeniably excellent food that Tony had procured for them. Conversation flowed freely between them. Tony was chatty and filled the evening with quiet conversation, and Gibbs replied every so often. Finally Gibbs was tired of his phone buzzing in his pocket and he pulled it out with a sigh.

It was Abby. Regretfully, he decided to ignore the call. Shannon had had rules when they were married, and one of them was to never not be in touch. It had probably started with her being worried for him when he was deployed, and never being able to be in touch properly, so when he was back Stateside, she instituted that rule where he was never to ignore a phone call from her. But things with Shannon were way over, that ache now barely a twinge, he realized, so he didn’t feel the need to adhere to her rules and pick up, even for Abby.

“People calling you about tonight?” Tony asked, his tone deceptively casual.

“Probably,” Gibbs shrugged.

“I had to turn my phone off,” Tony told him.

“Too many phone calls?”

“Mostly my twitter feed went crazy. Plus you know, it’s rude to look at your phone when you’re at the movies. Especially when you’re on a date.”

Gibbs laughed at that. “It’s also rude to talk through the movie but that didn’t stop you.”

Tony smiled at him, his mouth full of what looked to be half masticated chalupa. “I didn’t see you complaining about it.”

“I liked it,” Gibbs told him.

Tony smiled shyly at him, and Gibbs found the slight blush lighting up his cheeks endearing and adorable.

“Where the hell do you put it all?” Gibbs asked, when Tony reached into the final bag for even more food.

Tony gave him an easy grin. “Hollow leg?” he kidded.

Gibbs shook his head, but didn’t say no when Tony offered him more food and the last bottle of Negra Modelo. Afterwards, Tony carefully stuffed all their detritus back into the bags and folded the TV trays back up. They leaned back with long sighs. Almost without thought, their fingers brushed and their hands reached for each other and they were holding hands again.

“Are you leaving in the morning?” Tony asked softly.

Gibbs gave him a smile. “Sunday morning.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You maybe want to…?”

“Dinner tomorrow night?” Gibbs asked.

Tony nodded.

“You said something about being a good cook?” Gibbs hinted.

He broke into a smile. “Yeah. Yeah. Cook for you? I’d like that.”

They were silent for a moment, just staring into each other’s eyes. Gibbs couldn’t believe how green Tony’s eyes were, or the depth that he could see behind them. There was something about this man that he found mesmerizing. It wasn’t that he was physically hot, because he certainly was. But it wasn’t _just_ that he was a gorgeous man. Tony seemed to be one of those surprisingly thoughtful people. Gibbs’ mind went back to that interview he’d seen where Tony had said that he wanted to be a writer when he grew up, and he found himself wanting to read those novels and scripts and stories that Tony claimed to have hidden away on his hard drive. He wanted to understand more about this man, who seemed bubbly and effervescent at first glance, but the second and third glances gave him hints of more and more of the layers of the onion that Gibbs couldn’t wait to peel.

He put his palm on Tony’s cheek, calloused thumb rubbing his full bottom lip gently. His heart melted when Tony closed his eyes and leaned into his hand. Before he knew it, he was leaning forward and kissing those inviting lips, pressing their lips together in a soft, chaste kiss.

“This OK?” he asked, his voice husky.

Tony opened his eyes and nodded.

Gibbs leaned forward and kissed him again, this time, a soft, fluttery, experimental kiss. He sucked on Tony’s bottom lip, feeling a stab of satisfaction go through him when Tony melted into the kiss, and he could feel shivers going down the younger man’s spine when he licked into Tony’s mouth. The kiss turned hot and dirty then, both of them desperate for more of each other’s taste, sucking, licking, even biting, and when Gibbs pulled away to breathe, Tony was straddling him and he had his fingers buried in Tony’s soft, brown hair. They were both breathing hard now. They stared at each other wordlessly for a moment before Tony leaned down and kissed him again.

Gibbs found himself cupping Tony’s pert ass, slipping his hand into Tony’s pants and massaging his ass cheeks over his underwear. For his part, Tony had started grinding on him, rubbing their hard cocks together.

“Wait,” Tony pulled away, panting. “Wait, wait.”

Gibbs pulled back and froze, eyes wide, heart pounding in fear. Had he done something wrong? Had he misread the signs? Had he coerced this man into doing things he wasn’t comfortable doing? Shit. It’d been way too long since he’d made out with anyone. He needed to get a hold of himself.

“I want to… I need to take this slow,” Tony whispered. “I want you to take me seriously. And not just look at me like I’m some idiot fanboy, someone you can just fuck and run.”

“I’m not the kind of person to do anything like this without it being serious,” Gibbs told him.

Tony’s eyes widened.

“And you’re not some idiot fanboy.”

“I kind of am,” Tony muttered guiltily.

“Not _just_ some idiot fanboy,” Gibbs grinned.

Tony bopped him on the chest, blushing adorably.

“I haven’t really been with anybody since Shannon,” Gibbs shrugged. There’d been a few hand jobs at most. Nothing past that. With people he didn’t know and never saw again.

“Yeah?” Tony asked.

“I do take you seriously,” Gibbs told him.

“You do?”

Gibbs nodded and smiled, stretching up to brush their noses together. “I took you seriously from the time you pulled your Stormtrooper helmet off at the Con. Hell, I took you seriously even when all I saw was your face staring down at me from billboards on the way to the Con.”

“Really?” Tony looked surprised and pleased.

“But I’m good with taking this slow,” Gibbs sighed. “I’ve never been in a relationship other than Shannon. Never wanted to.”

“Yeah?”

“Until you,” Gibbs smiled at him, running his fingers through Tony’s hair.

Tony sighed, now looking apologetic. “I’m sorry Shannon was there tonight,” he made a face. “She didn’t come to the last premiere. I thought maybe we’d luck out tonight.”

“It’s fine,” Gibbs assured him. “It’s been a long time. I’ve let it go.”

And surprisingly, he realized that he was telling the truth. He kind of had let it go. Now what he felt was mostly sadness that he’d given Shannon so many years of his life, and of course, he did still mourn the loss of a child that he never had, and that had never been his, but he wasn’t angry about it anymore. He didn’t even know when that happened, but all he felt was relief that he’d been able to let go of his anger.

Tony’s smile was tremulous and beautiful. “Hey, are you busy during the day tomorrow?” he asked, his tone hesitant.

Gibbs shook his head.

“Maybe I can pick you up and we can spend the day together? And then I’ll cook you dinner?”

Gibbs smiled. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

They made out like teenagers for the rest of the evening, and when the limo dropped Gibbs off at the hotel, he finally pulled his phone out and called Abby when he was back in his room. It was either that or start jerking off immediately and for whatever reason, he didn’t want to dirty the evening they’d had by doing that.

“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!!!” Abby was screaming it.

“Hey, Abs.”

“Are you with Tony DiNozzo now?”

“He just dropped me off at the hotel.”

“What? Aren’t you guys spending the night together? Shouldn’t you be… _canoodling_?”

“I just met him tonight, Abs!” Gibbs laughed. “I’m not that kind of guy. And for the record, neither is he.”

“ _Reaaaalllyyyy_?” Abby sounded interested. “That’s not what they say about him.”

Gibbs shrugged. “People in this town get everything wrong.”

“Well, if you’re all alone at the hotel and not getting busy with Tony DiNozzo, you should turn your TV on,” Abby urged him.

Gibbs did as he was bid, flipping around to find the right channel. What he saw was tons of pictures of him and Tony on the red carpet.

“Oh,” he blew out. “That was fast.”

“You should see yourself on twitter!” Abby laughed. “Hash tag Tibbs? Going _crazy_.”

“I have no idea what you’re even saying, Abs.”

“I know you don’t. So, did you have a nice time?”

Gibbs sighed and smiled. “Yeah.”

Abby’s squeal made him pull the phone away from his ear.

“Abs! That hurt! Bats in South America are squeaking back at you right now.”

Abby laughed at that.

“Did anyone know you were seeing Tony DiNozzo?” Abby asked.

“Nope.”

“How’d this happen?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Can we do breakfast tomorrow before you skip town?”

“We can do breakfast. I’m seeing Tony after that though.”

“Ooooooh… and what time is your flight?”

“Sunday morning,” Gibbs said, sounding a little guilty.

“And you’re spending the day with Tony DiNozzo?”

Gibbs grunted the affirmative.

“Oh my god! You sly dog, you!” Abby crowed.

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Wait, wait. So I’ll pick you up for breakfast. You’ll have to tell me what he’s like, OK? And tell me this whole story of how you ended up going to the red carpet premiere of Tony DiNozzo’s movie as his ‘arm candy’. Don’t think I didn’t see that little soundbite.”

Gibbs hung up on her. He spent a few minutes watching the program that kept showing all these pictures and short footage of him and Tony walking together, Tony holding on to his arm, the two of them holding hands. What surprised Gibbs was how comfortable they seemed to be together in all the footage that he saw. They were smiling at each other, genuine smiles, and when Tony started out taking his arm, he looked amused and happy. Later, when they walked around hand in hand, every movement seemed natural. They didn’t seem to need to verbally communicate that much, their bodies fit together comfortably and without prior coordination, and he could tell that despite being on the red carpet, he, Gibbs, was actually relaxed. Tony would lean close to whisper something to him, and he would grin back. Hell, he could tell that he was actually flirting right back at the man. And the way they moved so easily together, hand in hand, or arms around each other. Gibbs had even made an effort not to look too grim in the photos that they posed in together, and Tony’s barely veiled amusement complemented his almost grins. It was baffling.

Back before the end of _Coleoptera_ and he’d gone to these sorts of events with Shannon, it had always seemed to him that he’d been somewhat wooden and awkward. Never quite knowing what to do with his hands when walking with Shannon. Not that he was awkward because Shannon was there, or that he didn’t want to share the spotlight with her, but more that he felt weird letting everyone see him and Shannon holding hands down a red carpet. It had just felt odd and uncomfortable. He’d much preferred just folding her into his arms at home or out with their friends rather than in those kinds of scrutinized occasions.

It was interesting that he could see none of that awkwardness in his interactions with Tony DiNozzo that night even though it was their first date. And more than that, it was the first time they’d ever met in person. It was more than interesting to see how he was behaving around Tony. He found himself blushing when he saw Tony lean in to whisper something in his ear, and then he whispered something back, and saw how Tony threw his head back to laugh. What he was surprised at was how natural Tony had been, as if he’d genuinely been amused by what Gibbs said. And it was also surprising that he could see how pleased he looked on the screen at having made Tony laugh. As if he cared what Tony thought about him.

He cared what Tony DiNozzo thought of him. Shit. When did _that_ happen?

Gibbs sighed when his phone rang again and he saw that it was Jenny. He couldn’t hide from her anymore. With muffled groan, he answered.


	7. Chapter Six: Interlude

**Chapter Six: Interlude**

[](https://i.imgur.com/jCUuR7u.jpg)

**Hollywood Gossip** – Last night at the premiere of his new movie _Juniper Moon Wanes_ , mega-star Tony DiNozzo brought Oscar-winning, notoriously reclusive actor LJ Gibbs with him on the red carpet. Tony and his new beau were seen holding hands, hugging, being adorably affectionate with each other, completely affirming all the rumors that have been going around lately that the two are, in fact, dating. LJ Gibbs has never been seen at any kind of event, never mind smiling to anyone while there, since the cancellation of the critically acclaimed yet short-lived TV series _Coleoptera_. Despite the fact that his ex-wife Shannon was in attendance with her husband, Tobias Fornell who directed the entire _Juniper Moon_ franchise, LJ Gibbs was present for the entire movie and was seen exiting the theater still holding hands with Tony DiNozzo. Can this be love?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_   
_First #Tibbs sighting on the #RedCarpet! Is LJ Gibbs actually smiling in public? *swoons*_

[picture of Tony and Gibbs, arm in arm, walking down the red carpet, both men in tuxedoes. Gibbs is smiling, and Tony grinning mischievously at him]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Entertainment Weekly @EW_   
_Rumors of LJ Gibbs’ issues with intimacy have been greatly exaggerated. #Tibbs_

[picture from behind of Gibbs’ arm around Tony’s shoulder, seated in the darkened theater, their heads together, Gibbs’ face is in profile. He looks as if he is whispering into Tony’s ear]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_   
_@Tony_Di absolutely had the best ‘arm candy’ ever! #Tibbs FTW!_

[Gif of Gibbs telling a reporter that he is the arm candy]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_   
_Why is LJ Gibbs having breakfast with @TheRealAbby_Sciuto instead of @Tony_Di? Is the honeymoon already over? What happened to the morning after? Where is the #Tibbs?_

[picture of Gibbs and Abby eating together at a restaurant]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Perez Hilton @PerezHilton_   
_We can’t get enough of the adorableness of #Tibbs! Hiking together in Griffith Park today._

[short video of Gibbs and Tony walking hand in hand on a trail. Gibbs face is turned towards Tony, eyes bright with mirth, and Tony is gesturing wildly with his free hand as he speaks]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_   
_…And #Tibbs is back! Seen grocery shopping together later. Already arguing about what cut of meat to buy? How domesticated!_

[picture of Gibbs and Tony in an intense discussion, apparently about what cut of steak to buy, in front of the meat counter]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_   
_No #Tibbs sightings in 16 hours! Are they cozying up somewhere romantic with the steak purchased earlier? We need more #Tibbs!_

[GIF of Gibbs and Tony on the red carpet where Tony buries his face in Gibbs’ shoulder and Gibbs pulls him closer, his smile open and affectionate]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_   
_Going to the airport together? @Tony_Di, what naughty things have you been up to with LJ Gibbs? And did it take allllllll night? #Tibbs_

[Tony has sunglasses and a baseball cap on and Gibbs has a cowboy hat and sunglasses on, both wearing casual and comfortable clothing. Tony has a messenger bag strapped on and Gibbs is pulling a small rolling suitcase. They are holding hands and walking extremely closely to each other]


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

[](https://i.imgur.com/pFo0HJn.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_   
_In #Tibbs withdrawal. @Tony_Di on 4wk Europe-Asia-Australia-NZ press tour & LJ Gibbs reportedly back in WY. Will they survive this separation? Will we?_

[Picture of a tired looking but animated Tony sitting with his cast mates at a Q and A session, in the background are ads in what looks to be Korean characters]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gibbs’ cell phone buzzing woke him up from a sound sleep. His bedside table clock showed that it was after 0300, but he scrabbled for the phone, flipping it open, anxious not to miss the call.

“Yeah,” he rasped, still more than half asleep.

“Hey,” DiNozzo’s husky voice made him smile.

“Hey, darlin’,” Gibbs flopped back on the bed with a sigh, suppressing a yawn as he relaxed back into the warm and comfortable bed. “How’s it going?”

“Two more countries before I get to come home,” Tony sounded tired, even though it was mid-day where he was. “Sorry I keep waking you up.”

“Rather wake up and talk to you than not talk to you at all,” Gibbs assured him.

“You’re such a sweet talker,” Tony teased.

Gibbs snorted at that. “How’s Korea?”

“Really good,” Tony sounded happy now. “They seem to love the movie, the food is amazing, and they’ve been so great. Everywhere, really, everyone’s been so awesome. I shouldn’t be complaining. I’m just sick of being on the road.”

“Only Australia and New Zealand left, and then you’re back,” Gibbs said, comforting the man.

“Thank god. I can’t take much more of this. Just one more week. Then I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. I’m about peopled out now.”

Gibbs pondered it for a minute. “If you want to just get away from people, you can always come stay with me.”

There was silence on the line. For a split second, Gibbs wondered if maybe Tony hadn’t heard him. Cell phones could be spotty like that. “At your ranch in Wyoming?” Tony finally asked, his voice small.

“Don’t got another house somewhere else, DiNozzo,” Gibbs rolled his eyes, although he was smiling.

“I-is that OK with you?” Tony sounded quite hesitant.

And Gibbs understood it. He’d been so protective of his home and had only ever invited a handful of people, mostly friends from _Coleoptera_ , to it. He’d never been a people pleaser and never been one of those people who had a lot of friends. He understood why Tony wasn’t just jumping to come visit him, given his reputation.

“I’d like it,” Gibbs said softly. “But if you wanted to go to your sanctuary, I’d understand that too.”

Gibbs could practically see Tony chewing on his bottom lip as he thought it through.

“There’s no pressure, Tony,” he assured the man. “But if you really wanted to get away, I’m telling you, nothing beats my ranch. It’s way the hell out of the way of everything, and all we have are horses, dogs, and some sheep. No paparazzi. No reporters. No questions.”

“It would be nice,” Tony started saying. “You know, I’ve never really been to Wyoming. How are the mountains there? Back breaking in any way?”

“If you start quoting _Brokeback Mountain_ to me, I swear I _will_ quit you,” Gibbs huffed.

“Oh my god! You know that movie!”

Gibbs laughed at the younger man’s shock. Although Gibbs usually didn’t watch many movies, that was one that Abby had dragged him to. It had come out before he moved out of Hollywood for one thing, and he couldn’t escape so easily from Abby’s clutches back then.

“I’ll bet you didn’t know that it was actually filmed in the Canadian Rockies and not actually in Wyoming, even though it was supposed to be set in Wyoming.”

“I don’t give a shit where it was filmed, darlin’.”

Tony laughed at that, not taking offense at Gibbs’ curtness. “I know you don’t.”

“But I do like hearing you tell me crap I don’t care about. I like your voice and your yabba yabba.”

Tony blew out a breath, sounding pleased even though Gibbs could picture him rolling his eyes. “Guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. I just hang up on the people that annoy me.”

“But you’ve hung up on _me_ before!” Tony objected.

“You should think about that,” Gibbs teased him.

“Fuck you!” Tony said, playfully annoyed. “Wait, really? Was I annoying you?”

Gibbs hated that note of insecurity in Tony’s voice. “No, darlin’. I only hung up on you ‘cause I knew it would be funny.”

“You’re such a bastard.”

“Not a secret what the second B in my name is for, darlin’,” Gibbs teased him some more, making sure that he smiled as he said it so Tony would hear it in his voice. “Offer is open. You’re welcome here any time.”

“You really don’t mind?”

“I’d love it if you came. I _have_ missed you, you know,” this time Gibbs went for honesty.

“I’ve missed you too,” Tony sounded relieved to admit it, making Gibbs smile.

“If you want to come here, just let me know when you plan to arrive and I’ll have someone pick you up.”

“OK.”

“No pressure, OK? If this doesn’t work for you, we can figure out a good weekend and I’ll come out to LA and see you. If you want me to.”

“No, no. I couldn’t make you do that no matter how much I want to see you. You _hate_ LA. I’m not that attached to it, either. I want to come see you. I do. It’s just…”

“What’s wrong?”

Tony blew out a long sigh. “It’s just that I’m kind of, you know, a… handful? People can usually only take me in small increments. I don’t want to inflict myself upon you and wear out my welcome.”

Gibbs could hear the insecurity in Tony’s voice. “Darlin’, you won’t wear out your welcome with me,” he said gently. “I _like_ that you’re a handful. I don’t usually like anyone at all. Besides, there’re two hundred acres of property for you to ride out and hide yourself from my cranky ass when you need a break from me. I’m not easy to live with either, y’know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“’Cause I really like you, and I don’t want to kill this by being all… _me_ to you.”

“Darlin’, I like that you’re who you are. And I like you.”

“Yeah, OK…”

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs felt he still needed to reassure the man. “I don’t waste good. I have a rule about that. And you’re good.”

“Thanks,” he could hear the smile in Tony’s voice now. “OK. I’ll see how things fall out but I’m going to try and visit you.”

“Stay as long as you want.”

“I still think you have no idea what you’re getting into.”

Gibbs snorted. “We’ll just have to see which of us is more unbearable to be around,” he said darkly. “Pretty sure I’ll have you beat.”

Tony’s laugh lightened the mood considerably, and they chatted for a couple more minutes before Tony had to go. He was being herded to yet another room for more press.

After they hung up, Gibbs laid back in his bed, smiling to himself. He liked Tony. A lot. And even though he was now in Asia and only stealing a few minutes a day to talk to him, and that the time difference meant that the only time Tony had to talk to him without being completely and utterly zonked out was in the middle of the night for Gibbs, he ensured that Tony knew he wanted him to call. That he wanted to be woken up to speak to Tony. It was worth the disruption of his sleep to hear the man’s voice. Besides, he’d been an active duty Marine for many years, and disruption of sleep was a way of life for him back then. It probably also helped that he usually ended up jacking off to thoughts of Tony or his voice saying Gibbs’ name, or just that sexy chuckle of his, and the orgasms helped him go right back to sleep with no trouble. So it wasn’t like he was truly sleep deprived.

Although that night, Gibbs wasn’t in a hurry to go back to sleep. His mind was abuzz with the hope that maybe soon, Tony would be at the ranch with him. Even the idea that Tony would be safe under his roof for a while seemed to settle something that had been broken inside Gibbs for years, something that broke after Shannon left him. He felt a sense of rightness with this thing with Tony. Even though they had spent a scant twenty four hours together, Gibbs felt like he’d known Tony a lot longer. They had just seemed to fit in together so easily, without rubbing each other the wrong way too much. Like two halves of a whole.

It had been a struggle for him to return to being a functional human being, after the thing with Shannon and the devastating loss of an unborn child that had never even been his. Tony soothed that pain in a way that Gibbs couldn’t explain. After Shannon, he’d been a cynic, refusing to believe that there was a specific person for everyone in the world. He’d thought only naïve fools believed in ‘the one’ for them. But he was now forced to consider that maybe he had been wrong about that. Because Tony felt so right to him, even when compared with how things had been with Shannon when things had been good between them. Even during the heart poundingly exciting beginning with Shannon. It just didn’t compare to how he already felt about Tony and they had only spent about twenty four hours in each other’s presence.

It was going to be difficult not to just throw himself on the man when or if he came to visit. Gibbs knew that he was already in too deep when he actually offered to go to LA to see Tony. Gibbs _never_ offered to go to that fucking paper town, not for any reason. And the fact that Tony took his feelings about that seriously touched him. How many other people had just thought he was being an arrogant and spoiled bastard for not wanting to live in LA and for maintaining his privacy as strictly as he did? How many people had told him to just ‘get over himself’? That Tony cared about the fact that Gibbs didn’t like LA and would prefer not to be there made him feel warm inside.

His mind wandered back to the day after the red carpet event, after his first date with Tony. Tony had picked him up in a classic green 1966 Ford Mustang, outside the restaurant he’d had brunch with Abby, and then they went off to spend the day together. The car had been a surprise. For some reason he had expected Tony to have a more tricked out modern sports car. Instead, Tony’s taste ran towards older, classic cars, authentically restored and well maintained – he knew stuff about it since he also worked on the car himself when he had time – and it had been a pleasant surprise. Not that Gibbs hated newer cars, they had their plusses, but growing up, his dream car had been a yellow Challenger with racing stripes that he’d never had the opportunity to finish restoring. One of the regrets that he had, since he wasn’t speaking to his father these days. Hadn’t spoken to him for years now. Another old hurt that he was nursing.

The day he and Tony had spent together had actually been fun. They had gone hiking, eaten out for lunch, hung out in the dusty stacks in the top floor and the back of a quiet and deserted library, of all things, where Tony talked about how he used to spend a lot of time in libraries when he first moved out to LA. Just for the quiet and for a place to sit and just be, without being judged, since he’d felt that all that people in town ever did was judge him – for his looks, for his ‘chosen lifestyle’, for everything. And happily, none of those people tended to frequent libraries, which made them a good place to take breaks in or just sit in without having to be alone and depressed in his own miserable apartment. Gibbs could hear the fondness in Tony’s tone, talking about those days, and how this library had been a block away from his crappy old apartment and how he’d spent a lot of time here.

Gibbs found himself talking about how he fell into acting and how he and Shannon finally made the decision to move to LA. They’d originally bought a house in Virginia, but after Gibbs was discharged from the Marines due to his injuries, they’d been looking to see what else was out there. The housing market was good and they would be able to make a tidy profit from selling their house in Virginia, a house that Gibbs had actually put in a lot of work into and had been incredibly proud of. Gibbs had planned to come out to LA to look for work as a carpenter on movie or TV sets while Shannon tried her luck at being an actress and doing costume work on the side, but had somehow found himself in front of the camera instead of behind it. It hadn’t been his plan to act, he hadn’t even thought that he could act, but he’d also been seeing a shrink for his PTSD issues, and for whatever reason, his doctor had thought that pretending to be someone else for a while was helping him cope and recover. So he’d started acting.

Tony listened intently and inserted a comment here and there. It had felt good to tell Tony all these things about himself that he’d never talked about. That only Shannon had known. And Tony was reciprocating and sharing stories that Gibbs instinctively knew that the younger man had never told anyone else. It had been a really pleasant afternoon.

Afterwards, at an upscale grocery store, they quibbled over groceries to buy because Gibbs had offered to make them steak for dinner, cowboy style, and he and Tony had debated cuts of meat and what side dishes should accompany the steak. Gibbs had had a lot of fun refusing all of the vegetable options that Tony tried to suggest, and it absolutely amused him when Tony decided enough was enough and just summarily decided what vegetables he would make and that Gibbs would just shut up, eat what was on the table and like it. It was so much what his mother would have said that it just made him laugh and laugh at the strangeness of hearing those familiar words come out of the sexy movie star’s mouth. Apparently Gibbs’ aversion to vegetables was bad enough that even single men started sounding like mothers when faced with this problem. But the banter had been easy and stimulating, without being forced. It hadn’t really felt like a ‘get to know each other’ sort of day because everything had flowed so organically, and the chemistry between them was undeniable. And electric. Gibbs’ heart stuttered every time their fingers brushed together, and walking around holding hands kept him in a state of heightened arousal all day.

That evening, Tony had taken him somewhere quite secluded. He had a rented house in Beverly Hills proper, apparently, that he pretty much used it for his every day life. It was his official residence, the one that people knew about. But he had another house tucked away, way up in the hills, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, quiet and secluded. It was nestled in a grove of old growth trees, a wooden house that looked both modern and traditional from the outside. This was the house Tony took him to that evening. Tony parked the car in the garage and it didn’t even feel like they were still in LA to Gibbs when he stepped into the house.

“Welcome to my sanctuary,” Tony gave him a smile. “A frat buddy of mine was the architect that designed this, working with another frat buddy who’s into the environment, to put in as many eco-friendly features. Much of the house is made of material that is either recycled or responsibly sourced. All the wood that this house is made of was sourced from reputable sustainable forestry places. There are two green living external walls. Plus I have solar panels and a wind turbine, so everything is mostly solar or wind powered. There’s all kinds of other incredibly efficient and self-sufficient stuff, too. I could go to ground here and survive the zombie apocalypse, if I laid in enough supplies. There’s even a water catchment and purification area. I’m serious. I bet anarchist nut jobs would love this house. Except I don’t stock any artillery in the armory. And to be clear, I don’t even have an armory,” Tony rolled his eyes. “But, best of all, it’s far away from people and no one knows about it. This is where I go to hide when I want to be alone.”

Gibbs looked around with great curiosity. He knew that all the eco-friendly features that Tony had rattled off would make Abby ridiculously happy. She’d already reorganized his ranch to ensure that he was leaving as small a carbon footstep in the world as she could. But in addition to being an efficient, ecologically responsible house, it was also truly beautiful. The living room was spacious with a few comfortable looking armchairs and couches. The room was high ceilinged and there was a wall of windows that overlooked the city, with a gleaming baby grand positioned such that whoever was playing would be able to gaze out the window. The view out the window was amazing, making LA look like a good place to live. An illusion, perhaps, but a beautiful one.

“I’d never leave this place,” Gibbs murmured approvingly.

Tony gave him a smile. “I know, right? But if I keep coming here all the time then I’ll have the damn paparazzi at my doorstep here instead of my other house. My official house, I mean.”

Gibbs nodded. He understood it. Even though they had to go through a locked gate, and up a really long driveway before the house even became visible, it was best not to push it with the muckrakers.

“Besides, right now this house becomes more like a reward I give myself. I try to come here when I’ve done something good or accomplished something hard to do. It gives the house a much more optimistic and celebratory feel to it,” Tony dropped his keys and hung up his jacket.

He took Gibbs’ jacket as well. He toed off his shoes and socks and padded around barefoot, giving Gibbs a tour, and then they spent the rest of the evening talking and cooking together. It was amazing how they hadn’t just fallen right into bed together, because Gibbs could feel the zing in the air and the heat in his loins, every time their fingers brushed each other while they were cooking and moving around in the kitchen. Tony good-naturedly heckled him on his cowboy steak marinade and Gibbs kept teasing him about his vegetable dish. But at the end of the day, they had appreciated each other’s offering.

Tony pulled out a casserole from the freezer, explaining that he sometimes stress cooked and made a big batch of food which he then froze. He would have made his lasagna from scratch for the two of them that night, except it took a long time to make lasagna noodles from scratch and he’d wanted to spend time with Gibbs rather than work in the kitchen all day, so they would just have to eat his pre-made one.

Gibbs had never eaten so well before. They ate and talked and relaxed in each other’s company, talking about everything and nothing. It was all so easy, as if things were just falling into place between them.

By the end of the night, Tony confessed that he was probably too drunk to drive Gibbs back to his hotel. Tony had been drinking wine all night and Gibbs was not much better, since Tony kept bringing him a cold beer to replace the empty by his side. He’d offered to call him a cab, or Gibbs could crash in his guest room. Or if Gibbs wanted to, they could share a bed.

Tony had been so adorably shy when he made the offer, his face flaming and he was wringing his hand as if unsure what to do with them.

Gibbs took Tony’s hands in his and accepted the offer to share Tony’s bed.

“I don’t know that I’m ready for too much of the physical, though,” Gibbs clarified. “But I’d like to sleep with you in my arms tonight. If that’s OK.”

Tony had brightened, his green eyes sparkling happily as he accepted. They prepared for bed, and Gibbs couldn’t believe how comfortable he felt around the younger man, both of them brushing their teeth together at the sink after Tony rummaged around in a cabinet and found him a still-packaged new toothbrush, and taking turns with the toilet. Tony offered him a clean t-shirt to sleep in, but Gibbs ended up stripping to his boxers and sliding into bed. Tony had just given him a big smile, shimmied out of his clothes, leaving his boxer briefs on, before getting into the bed. Tony slept on the left hand side of the bed, his things were on the nightstand – phone charger, books, and the like – which suited Gibbs perfectly since he preferred the right hand side of the bed. So they didn’t even have to argue about that.

They ended up kissing and petting each other, but not going too far, both of them a little too drunk to get too seriously physical. And they fell asleep with Tony’s head on Gibbs’ chest, one arm around his waist, and Gibbs’ arm around Tony, holding him close.

It ended up being the best night’s sleep that Gibbs had had in a long time.

When he awoke, the sun was just rising. But he was alone in the room. He wandered out of the bedroom, wondering where Tony could have gone. They both had flights out of LAX later that morning. He peeked into Tony’s office and saw that he wasn’t at the desk. Gibbs stared at the computer set up in there and wondered if these were the hard drives containing Tony’s hidden away writing. He didn’t linger, though, not wanting to intrude on something Tony was private about.

There was coffee waiting for him in the kitchen, so he poured himself a large mug of it and drank deeply, appreciating the fact that Tony had really good coffee, before he looked around some more for the younger man.

He found Tony in his little exercise room – working out on some complex looking machine. In the room Tony had a regular treadmill, something that looked like a souped up stationary bike, free weights, and a bunch of other machines that Gibbs couldn’t possibly name, or understand its function. But Tony had earbuds in his ear, connected to some thingamajig strapped to his bicep, and he was sweating as he pushed himself.

“Mornin’, darlin’,” Gibbs stood in front of the machine, sipping his coffee, eyeing how Tony’s sweat soaked shirt was sticking to his body. Gibbs could see his defined abs through the t-shirt. No denying it. Tony DiNozzo was in amazing shape.

“Hey,” Tony panted as he kept going, although he slipped an earbud out of his ear. “I just have three more minutes on this and then I’m done. Sorry to abandon you this morning.”

Gibbs gave him a noncommittal shrug, and poked around the room while Tony finished his workout. When the man was done, he efficiently wiped the machine down and hopped off, grabbing a clean towel with which to dry himself.

“Sorry, but I start filming for this other thing I’m doing in three months, and they really need me to be in crazy shape for that role,” Tony shook his head and gulped down his water. “Yesterday and Friday night were totally cheat days for me. After we’re done with the press for this _Juniper Moon_ sequel, I think I get a couple weeks break, during which I’m supposed to adhere to this workout regime that I’m telling you is going to be the death of me and a diet that I like to call ‘Death by Kale’. And after my little ‘break’, then I get to train with a retired mixed martial artist to get my ass in shape for this role, and the diet my nutritionist is putting me on will make anyone with tastebuds just wish they were dead.”

Gibbs gave him an admiring once over. “Look like you’re in pretty fucking good shape to me,” he grinned.

Adorably, Tony blushed. “Thanks,” he shrugged. “But I’ve got to be ridiculously cut for this role. I’m already regretting the lasagna I ate last night.”

“Will there be a bunch of shirtless scenes?” Gibbs asked, tongue in cheek, as his eyes raked over Tony’s fine form.

“Practically nude, even,” Tony’s voice was husky, his pupils dilating as he stared at Gibbs.

“Mmmm,” Gibbs hummed approvingly. “I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

“I have to live through the training and Death by Kale first.”

“Sounds brutal.”

Tony nodded, eyes wide, gulping down more water. “I didn’t want to skip my workout today so I got out of bed really early. I was hoping I’d be able to slip back into bed after a quick shower and wake you up. In a much more pleasant manner.”

“Early riser,” Gibbs shrugged. He’d always been that way, going back to his active duty days, probably.

“Of course you are,” Tony grinned. “Let me jump in the shower real quick, and then I’ll make us breakfast.”

Gibbs nodded his agreement.

Tony made a healthy breakfast of omelets with turkey sausage, onion, and yes, there was kale in the omelets – his was egg white only – and home fries. He ran his dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen and ran to get his already packed bag. They drove to LAX directly from there. Gibbs usually had Dorneget remove his items and check out from his hotel anyway, so Gibbs could just head home straight from Tony’s house instead of wasting time stopping at his hotel room.

Gibbs couldn’t help but keep remembering the warmth of Tony’s hand in his, as they held hands while Tony drove. It had been surprisingly sweet. Tony was an incredibly sweet guy. The whole escapade had been reeking of sweetness.

But maybe this time, when Tony came to stay with him, they could move forward from just the sweet interactions and incorporate some actual sex into their repertoire. Gibbs was really looking forward to that.

He glanced at his clock and realized that he should seriously try to get back to sleep now. And since he’d already started a half chub thinking about the time spent with Tony in LA, how soft Tony’s skin had been, how warm and cuddly the man was in his arms, and how good he smelled, he might as well see it through and then go right back to sleep. Why the hell not.

Gibbs reached into his sweatpants and palmed his half hard dick with a quiet moan. It definitely did not take long at all to stroke himself to completion, remembering how Tony felt sleeping in his arms, and Tony’s husky voice, and he fell right back to sleep afterwards.

When he checked his email the next day – Tony sometimes emailed him pictures and little notes, which made him check his email more often than he normally did – he saw that Tony had sent him his flight itinerary. He was flying in from Auckland to LAX via Singapore, and then straight to the Jackson Hole airport. Gibbs’ heart soared. Tony was coming!

He let his housekeeper and Gary know that they were expecting a guest. The very next day after that, Gary’s grandfather Ernie gave him a book and a box that rattled suspiciously.

“What the hell?” Gibbs checked out the title of the book. _Anal Sex for Dummies_. “ _Ernie_!”

The old man cackled like a mad man. “You need to be prepared, Marine. Going in the back door ain’t the same as the front.”

Gibbs could feel his face heating up and knew that he had to be completely red faced.

“Go on. Look in the box,” the old man urged him.

Gibbs so did _not_ want to look in the box. He really, really didn’t. But Ernie was giving him that look now so he growled under his breath and opened the box with a grimace. Inside was a huge tub of regular lubricant as well as what looked to be several other tubes of lube – oh my god, they were _flavored_ , Gibbs realized with shock. He now had enough lube to probably sex Tony up for years to come. Although, if Tony’s reputation was to be believed, maybe he would go through these supplies in a week or so? He didn’t know, so maybe more was better. He might not know much about the details of it, but anal sex with no lubricant sounded like an absolutely painful experience for all involved. But lube wasn’t the only thing Ernie had given him. There was also a gigantic box of ribbed condoms, a sleek black anal plug still sealed in its clear packaging and what looked to be a realistic looking bright fuchsia silicone dildo. And by realistic, it literally looked like a penis. Except for the bright fuchsia thing. It wasn’t a monster cock, but it wasn’t tiny, either. The details on the dildo were amazingly real. Gibbs couldn’t help but wonder if they had made it out of a mold of somebody’s hard on and what a weird process that would have been.

“Oh my god, _Ernie_!” Gibbs gasped, after he stared and blinked stupidly at the contents of the box for a moment. “What the ever living hell…?”

“You’re welcome,” the old man said smugly, grinning like a loon. “There’s a fifty percent off coupon in there for more toys from the online store I bought that stuff from. They’ll overnight things to you, too. Real discreet like.”

Gibbs groaned, blushing when he saw the brightly colored printout, advertising several colorful dildos, anal plugs, anal beads, vibrators, costumes, paddles, whips, and other toys to fulfill every kink. He quickly slammed the lid of the box shut when Gary walked into the room.

“Grandad, what…” Gary started to speak.

“And remember, Gibbs, when you start this kind of a relationship, you can’t go into it thinking you’ll always pitch because it’s got to be a give and take. Sometimes you gotta be the catcher!” Ernie went on. “I read in that book I gave you that it’s actually not something you should be scared of. It feels good to catch, too!”

“Y-you read the book…?” Gibbs couldn’t help but ask.

“Well of _course_ I read the book!” Ernie gave him a look that did not need the ‘dumbass’ in the sentence to be said aloud. Like what the hell kind of benefactor would he be if he didn’t actually know that what he was giving Gibbs would be helpful to him.

“What the fuck?” Gary muttered, catching sight of the title of the book in Gibbs’ hand, and looking horrified.

Gibbs turned the book over quckly and slapped it on the box, trying to hide its cover. Unfortunately, the back of the book contained the words ‘ANAL SEX’ in large font, and there was a cartoon diagram detailing just that. Both Gibbs and Gary gasped and Gibbs tried to stuff the book in the box to get it out of view.

“Thank you, Ernie,” Gibbs choked out. He cleared his throat, knowing that his face was flaming, and started to leave the room. “Gonna put this… away… now.”

“Seriously, check out that website that I gave you the coupon to!” Ernie raised his voice.

“Yeah, OK!” Gibbs yelled back as he tried to make his escape.

“And you might want to try using that dildo on yourself to practice before Tony DiNozzo gets here! You should figure out what feels good to you and what doesn’t!” Ernie yelled. “Because that man sure as hell knows what he likes and you should be prepared for that!”

Gary let out a scared meep and made an about turn. “Grandad, I _don’t_ want to know!” he yelled at his grandfather as he and Gibbs scurried away.

Thank god the elderly Marine couldn’t keep up with Gibbs and Gary as they ran off, carefully not meeting each other’s eyes. Gibbs knew that he and Gary were never, ever going to speak about this. Not ever. Not even if they were dosed with sodium pentathol or some other truth serum, or even if they were tortured. Gibbs was never speaking about this, even if he was waterboarded. No fucking way.

Although he _did_ read the book cover to cover in the privacy of his own room late at night. And if he ended up tasting a few of the flavored lubricant or even carefully test driving the ridiculous pink dildo and accidentally giving himself one of the most intense orgasms he’d ever had in his life, he was not going to tell Ernie about that, either. That was absolutely going to the grave with him. Absolutely.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

[](https://i.imgur.com/ZehiCg6.jpg)

_TMZ @TMZ_  
_What’s this? @Tony_Di went straight to WY to LJ Gibbs instead of going home to LA after his whirlwind press junket world tour? #Tibbs is going strong!_

[picture of Tony wrapped in Gibbs’ arms, both of them engrossed in a deep and filthy kiss with a ‘Welcome to Jackson Hole Airport’ sign in the background]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gibbs was humming softly to himself as he drove the three hours or so from Jackson Hole airport back to his ranch. Tony had chattered on at him for about a half hour before jet lag finally caught up with him and he was now slumped against the passenger door of Gibbs’ old pickup truck, completely zonked out. He was down for the count.

But even though the object of his affection was fast asleep, Gibbs was flying high. Tony had arrived. He was supposed to stay a week, but Gibbs was hoping to talk him into staying longer. A week seemed much too short a time to have with Tony, even though he felt like he was being greedy, wanting the man to stay even longer. He knew that Tony had a busy life outside of whatever it was they were doing together, but still, it would be nice if Tony could stay longer than a week. There was too much Gibbs wanted to show him, riding trails, meadows with wildflowers, the swimming hole, all kinds of other things at the ranch. He knew that Tony had ridden a horse in one of his movies – a period cowboy movie – and he’d seemed at home in a saddle so hopefully they’d get some good riding time together.

The drive back to the ranch went by uneventfully. Tony startled awake with a snort when Gibbs placed a gentle hand on his shoulder when they were parked in front of the ranch.

“We’re here, darlin’,” he rubbed Tony’s shoulder.

Tony looked around, blinking slowly, his eyes still sleep heavy. He yawned and gave Gibbs a sleepy smile, and Gibbs couldn’t help but smile back at the younger man. “It got dark,” Tony mumbled.

“Yeah.”

“I wanted to see stuff,” he pouted.

“Tomorrow,” Gibbs shook his head, grinning at the husky, sleepy, pouty tone Tony affected. “Let’s get some food in you, and get you to bed. Tomorrow you’ll see everything better in broad daylight. I’ll give you a real tour.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise,” Gibbs offered his pinky. It was really an Abby Sciuto special but it felt right to offer Tony the same.

Tony gave him a surprised look before he giggled and hooked his pinky around Gibbs’. The older man took that as an opportunity to pull him close and kiss him, pleased that Tony sighed and melted into his embrace without hesitation. Gibbs was kissing him down his neck when a rap on the truck roof made them both jump and spring apart.

Gibbs rolled his window down, scowling at Gary who was accompanied by Blue and Minx, the two Border Collie sheepdogs that tended to follow Gary around.

“What?” he growled.

“Grandad is about to explode. You need to come in and introduce your boyfriend to him or he’s going to skin me alive. Why he’s blaming me, I don’t even know. I don’t have anything to do with this,” Gary made a face as he gestured at the two of them.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, although it warmed him inside to hear Gary refer to Tony as his boyfriend. He gave Tony a wry look and jerked his head. “We better head in. This is Gary Yost, my foreman.”

“Hi,” Tony smiled and reached across Gibbs to shake Gary’s hand through the open window. “I’m Tony.”

“Gary,” Gary nodded, taking Tony’s hand.

Then both Gibbs and Tony opened their doors and exited the truck. Gibbs petted each dog before they went to practically attack the newcomer. Tony was busy greeting the friendly dogs, kneeling on the ground, petting them and letting them sniff him and lick his fingers, while Gary pulled Tony’s luggage out of the back of the pickup. When Tony noticed it, he tried to stop Gary from doing that.

“Dude, I’m more than capable of carrying my own bags,” Tony told the man.

Gary pointed discreetly to the window by the front door and Gibbs could see that Ernie was watching them through it. “My grandad will tear me a new one if I let Tony DiNozzo carry his own bag into the house,” he mumbled. “He’s a bit of an eccentric.”

Gibbs snorted at that, although it was with fondness.

“It’s better to just do what he wants than to question him,” Gary finished, ignoring Gibbs.

Tony gave Gibbs a questioning look, and Gibbs nodded solemnly.

“Well, OK, I guess,” Tony gave Gary a smile. “Just this once.”

Gary rolled his eyes. “C’mon before Grandad tries coming out here with his walker.” He clicked his throat and the two dogs obediently quit jumping around and heeled, walking behind him, their tails still wagging wildly.

“Nobody wants that,” Gibbs put his arm around Tony’s waist and guided him towards his front door, keeping his hand at the small of Tony’s back, needing that contact point.

They followed behind Gary. The front door burst open and Ernie stood there, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes bright and eager, as if he were ten and not ten times that age. If Ernie were even ten years younger, Gibbs would have worried about his chances with Tony, now that Ernie had him in his clutches.

“This here’s Corporal Ernie Yost, US Marine Corps. Gary’s grandfather,” Gibbs made the introductions. “Tony DiNozzo.”

“Oorah!” Ernie held out a hand. “Mr DiNozzo.”

“Please, I’m Tony,” Tony shook his hand, smiling in delight at the chipper old man. “Gibbs speaks highly of you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Ernie puffed up at that, grinning happily. “I enjoyed the _Juniper Moon_ movies, even though that scumbag Fornell directed it,” he declared. He had a surprisingly firm grip and he pulled Tony into a surprise hug that made Tony give Gibbs a bemused but happy look. “And even though they killed you off after this last one.”

“Thank you,” Tony laughed and put an arm around the elderly man as they walked into the house.

“I think they should’ve killed that Felix character instead.”

“Felix was the hero of the story!”

“Jean-Paul, that is, _you_ were the hero of the story,” Ernie insisted.

“Well thank you. But you know, this was how it was always supposed to end. Jean-Paul Rainier dies. It’s the only way it can truly be. After all his wife Sophie died way in the beginning of everything.”

“I guess there’s always fanfiction,” Ernie huffed.

Tony gave Gibbs a startled look before he started chuckling. “That’s true, Corporal Yost.” Gibbs didn’t even know what fanfiction was, and given Tony’s expression, he didn’t want to know.

“You call me Ernie, young man. Gunny, go git your feller some food and make him hit the rack before he falls down. He looks beyond exhausted,” Ernie barked at Gibbs.

“Yes, sir,” Gibbs gestured to the hallway towards the kitchen.

“Won’t you come eat with us?” Tony gave Ernie a winning smile and some serious big green puppy dog eyes.

Ernie cleared his throat. “I suppose I could eat.”

“Good,” Tony slung an arm around the old man. “You can lead me to the kitchen then.”

“Should I put your stuff in Gibbs’ room?” Gary asked.

Tony froze for a moment and gave Gibbs a wide eyed look. “Ummm…” he bit his lip, hesitant now.

“We have a guest room prepared for you, if that’s what you’d prefer,” Gibbs muttered.

“That big lunk of a Gunny’s been excited about you comin’ and that he’d like for you to rack with him is no secret,” Ernie chuckled. “He’s just tryin’ to be polite and offer you the guest room.”

“Don’t pressure him, Ernie,” Gibbs growled. He turned to Tony. “You can pick whichever you like. I just want you to be comfortable here.”

“But you _do_ want him to share your bed, don’t you?” Ernie asked, all innocent-like, although Gibbs definitely knew better. The question flashed through his mind: how many years in prison would he get for strangling a hundred year old war hero? He needed Ernie to stop talking. Pretty darn quick.

“I _would_ , of course I would. But again, _Tony_ , the choice is _yours_. Don’t let Ernie force you into something you don’t want to do.” Gibbs gave the old man a blistering glare that rolled right off of him.

Tony saw that Gary was hiding a grin behind his hand. “Are they always like this?” he asked the man.

Gary nodded.

“I’m cool with sharing with you, if you don’t mind me encroaching on your space?” Tony gave Gibbs a hopeful grin.

“Gibbs’ room it is,” Gary said decisively. He clicked at the dogs and they left with him as he toted Tony’s bags away.

“Seriously, if you want the guest room…”

“It’s cool,” Tony interrupted Gibbs with a grin.

“Let’s get you some grub,” Ernie led the way to the kitchen.

Gibbs’ housekeeper had left food warming in the oven for Tony so Gibbs fixed him and Ernie a plate of food. Tony sat at the counter with the elderly Marine and fell on his food like a starved man. Gibbs watched as he and Ernie conversed animatedly and was pleased that Tony was getting along well with the old man. When they were done eating, and Tony was obviously yawning, Ernie ordered Gibbs to take Tony to bed, his tone naughty and tongue in cheek.

Gibbs was blushing as he nodded, and Tony gave him a curious look but didn’t ask any questions. The poor man was probably just too tired for his brain to register that Ernie was being lewd. Gibbs showed Tony to his room – _their_ room for the duration of Tony’s stay if all went well – and Tony took a long shower before he collapsed in the bed wearing only a pair of boxer briefs, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Gibbs tucked him in securely and ended up turning up his thermostat. They tended to keep things cool at the ranch – it was too much trouble to heat the whole place up well. It was Wyoming. Winters were hard. Mostly Gibbs tended to use the fireplace rather than the heater, and while it wasn’t winter and they didn’t need the fireplace lit, he didn’t want Tony to catch cold sleeping practically in the buff. He sat and watched the younger man sleep for a while, just smiling to himself before heading down to the basement to get on with his woodworking.

The next day, it was after 1400 before Gibbs heard Tony move around in the bedroom. Tony had slept like a rock the entire night, snuggling right into Gibbs’ body, his own body sleep warm and boneless, when Gibbs finally went to bed. And when Gibbs tried to get out of bed, Tony had protested sleepily until Gibbs placed his pillow in Tony’s arms, letting the younger man cuddle the bejesus out of his pillow, before he was able to get out of bed. He had already had a busy morning and a pretty full day before Tony shuffled downstairs, his hair all kinds of whacked out – an impressive yet adorable bedhead – and a crease going down the skin of his face from where he’d probably slept on the pillowcase or something. Tony’s eyes were barely open and he’d thrown on a pair of Gibbs’ sweatpants – the one that was probably on the top of Gibbs’ dirty laundry hamper – which looked a little short on him, and a random crumpled t-shirt that he’d probably just pulled out of his bag. He was one of the most beautiful sights Gibbs had seen in his life.

“Coffee, darlin’?” Gibbs asked, watching him come down the stairs.

He nodded, giving him a grunt that could have been anything. Gibbs wanted to laugh at this sleepy, grumpy DiNozzo that he was getting. This was a far cry from the polished, charming man that the press saw and he guessed that it probably took a lot for Tony to relax around anyone to let this side of him show. He was suddenly flattered that Tony had this much trust in him to let him in like this.

Gibbs held out his hand and Tony took it without hesitation, which made Gibbs’ heart jump a little with happiness. They went to the kitchen where Gibbs introduced Tony to his housekeeper, Gladys. He poured Tony a fresh cup of coffee, putting in hazelnut creamer and sugar before placing it in front of the man, stopping to press a kiss to his temple. Tony had plunked himself down at the counter again, propping his head up with his hand.

“Sleep well?” Gibbs asked.

Tony took a long drink of coffee, eyes closed, before he let out his breath in a long, contented sigh. He nodded, giving Gibbs a sleepy smile. “Mm-hmm,” he murmured. “You remembered,” he sounded please.

Gibbs shrugged, trying not to blush. Of course he remembered how Tony took his coffee. It was hard for him to forget any little detail about Tony.

“Time is it?”

“1422,” Gibbs looked at his watch.

Tony nodded, rubbed his eyes, and yawned, making no mention of Gibbs’ tendency of using military time. It was interesting, since most people always said something about it. It used to drive Shannon up the wall, for instance. But not Tony. Not even a peep about it. Although he might not be awake enough to notice it.

“I can’t believe I slept that long,” Tony mumbled around another yawn.

“You needed it,” Gibbs told him.

Tony rubbed his eyes, yawned again, and stretched his long, lean body. “Best sleep I’ve had in a month,” he muttered.

It had been for Gibbs, too. In fact the last time Gibbs had slept that well had been the night he’d spent at Tony’s house in LA. Gladys put a plate of biscuits and gravy and poached eggs in front of Tony and he gave her a brilliant smile before digging in. Gibbs couldn’t help but watch in amazement as the man packed the food in, pushing back with a satisfied sigh and heartfelt thanks only when every scrap of food had been consumed.

Gibbs could see that he was sleepy again but Tony insisted he had to stay awake to get his body back in the right time zone. He went up and took a quick shower, and came back down dressed in jeans and a green Henley that brought out the green of his eyes and Gibbs gave him a tour of the ranch. They walked around, holding hands. Gibbs introduced him to the ranch hands, to the dogs and cats that they passed, and to each horse in the stable. Tony drank it all in, eyes bright and happy, smiling as he petted each animal, or shook someone’s hand. Gibbs thought that they should hold off from riding just yet, and let Tony recover from his long trip and the jet lag he was obviously suffering from, and Tony seemed happy enough to just groom a few horses with him, and sneaking back to the house for apples and carrots as treats for the horses.

That night, when they were in bed, Tony rolled onto Gibbs, settling himself in between Gibbs’ legs and framing his face with his elbows, and began kissing him. It started out slow, and sweet, just tasting each other, but when Gibbs’ hands dipped under his boxer briefs, grabbing his bare ass and pulling him down to grind onto Gibbs’ erection, and he licked into Tony’s mouth forcefully, Tony moaned and began rocking himself against Gibbs, their dicks rubbing deliciously against each other through the flimsy layers of cloth. Gibbs had one hand on Tony’s face, angling his head to kiss him better, and the other was worming its way further down Tony’s underwear, fingers caressing the crease of his ass, but Tony pulled away with a soft sound of protest, and Gibbs immediately pulled his hands off Tony’s body. They were both panting and hard against each other. Gibbs couldn’t help the moan that escaped him when Tony moved and their cocks brushed against each other again. There were simultaneously too few and too many layers of clothing between them, especially since he didn’t know what he’d done wrong to make Tony pull away from him.

“Wait,” Tony panted.

“Sorry… Am I going too fast?” Gibbs was worried now. Did Tony not want this? Gibbs knew that they had said they were going to take it slow physically, and maybe they should’ve talked first before they started going down this path, but it had been a long four weeks and Gibbs had been jacking off to Tony every night now. It was difficult not to just put his hands all over the man now that he was here, and in his bed, and so fucking scantily clad. Miles and miles of honey gold skin bared to him. Gibbs wanted to taste him all over.

“You said you wanted to take the physical stuff slow,” Tony murmured. “I don’t want to force you to do anything you’re not ready to do. Especially since, you know, you’re relatively inexperienced and all.”

Gibbs pushed his fingers into Tony’s silky hair and smiled. “I’m good to go,” he whispered. “I’m ready to move forward if you are.”

Tony gave him a long, thoughtful look, his green eyes still dark with lust, and Gibbs couldn’t help but lean up to kiss him. Tony sighed and melted into the kiss, and they lost themselves in the dance of tongues, lips, and teeth, tasting, nibbling, exploring each other.

“I don’t want you to think I’m not taking this seriously,” Tony panted when they pulled away to breathe.

“I’m fucking serious about you,” Gibbs told him, just as breathless. “Never been more serious about anybody in my life.”

Tony’s smile practically lit up the darkened room. “Me too,” he whispered, and Gibbs feel the force of Tony’s happiness.

“I don’t want to scare you off,” Gibbs continued. “But I can’t imagine going on with my life without you in it.”

“Oh good,” it seemed like it should be impossible, but Tony’s smile widened even more. “Then we’re on the same page.”

“We done talking now?” Gibbs growled.

“Fuck yeah,” Tony dived back to claim Gibbs’ lips.

Gibbs ran his calloused hands down Tony’s back and slipped them back under his underwear, grabbing handfuls of his delectable ass. “Thought about this,” he mumbled in between kisses, and he squeezed Tony’s ass cheeks. “Thought about you. Thought about this,” he slipped a finger in between Tony’s ass crack and ran it over Tony’s hole. He gently tapped it and the almost pained whimper that move elicited made him repeat the move.

“Fuck, I really want you,” Tony kissed down his neck, hard, desperate kisses, as he rutted against him. Gibbs moved his finger along the waistband of Tony’s boxer briefs and found his way to the front. He slid his hand in between their bodies and cupped Tony’s dick through his underwear, feeling the damp spot where Tony’s cock must have been leaking and the thought that Tony was hard and leaking for him aroused him even more.

Gibbs grasped Tony’s dick through the thin layer of cloth, feeling it twitch in his hand, and Tony groaned, blowing a puff of his hot breath onto Gibbs’ neck and making him shudder in response. Tony rutted into his hand, moaning softly and nibbling on Gibbs’ neck. It was strangely the sexiest thing that he’d ever experienced.

“Shit, Gibbs, we’re going to need some supplies unless you just want to finish off like this,” Tony panted out, pulling his mouth away from Gibbs’ flesh. He slid a hand down Gibbs’ chest and into his boxers, burning a trail down to where Gibbs was the hottest, and Gibbs couldn’t help gasping when Tony began jacking him off. He thrusted up into Tony’s fist, gripped Tony’s hair and angled his head, pulling him down for a desperate kiss.

Tony pulled his hand away and Gibbs’ whimpered in protest, but Tony was pushing Gibbs’ boxers down. Gibbs raised his hips to help Tony and immediately pulled Tony’s boxer briefs roughly down his thighs. There was a flurry of activity where they were both kicking their underwear off, and the bedclothes went flying off the bed as they fell back upon each other. It would be nice if Gibbs could say that his moves were graceful, but they weren’t, he knew his movements were jerky and uncoordinated and much too eager, but he did manage to get his boxers off so he counted it as a win. Gibbs flipped them so he was on top and was basically devouring Tony’s mouth, sucking on his tongue, inhaling Tony’s taste and scent. The younger man opened his legs and Gibbs settled in between his thighs, and the first time their dicks touched, skin on skin, without any cloth barriers between them, Gibbs tore his mouth away with a choked moan, and buried his face in Tony’s shoulder, his hips moving of its own volition. He knew that he was leaking onto Tony and the thought that he was marking the younger man with his pre-cum made it even hotter. He couldn’t stop himself from grinding down on him.

When Tony’s hand snaked in between them and grasped both their cocks, his thumb spreading the pre-cum and making them slippery with each thrust, Gibbs’ brain disconnected, unable to think about anything but how Tony’s hand felt on his dick, and how Tony’s erection felt against his own. Every time the heads of their dicks rubbed together in the circle of Tony’s fingers, he moaned. The sensation was hotter than anything he’d ever felt, the skin of Tony’s velvet shaft, hot and slippery, against his own was overwhelming. And when Tony began moving his hand up and down, jerking them both off together, Gibbs was ready to explode. He’d been masturbating to thoughts of Tony for a few weeks now, and to have Tony’s hand on his cock, to have the delicious friction of their cocks rubbing together, it was too much.

Gibbs knew that he was panting and trying hard to hold on, trying so hard to prolong the pleasure, trying not to shorten this between them, but Tony was writhing and moaning under him, thrusting up against him, his clever fingers stroking them both just right, squeezing their heads together. His balls were drawing up tight, his spine was tingling. He was so fucking close. They were both blurting pre-cum copiously, and Tony was using it to his advantage.

“Come on,” Tony was urging him, leaning up to nip at his jaw and neck. “Come on. ‘M not gonna last. Fuck. You’re so hot. Come on, baby. Come for me.”

Tony’s voice, husky and wrecked, hot breath in his ear, urging him to come, was it for Gibbs. He thrust into Tony’s hand and roared his name as his dick pulsed streams of thick, white come in between their bodies, Tony stroking him and milking him of every bit of come. Gibbs shuddered and panted, and Tony rolled them both over so he was straddling him while Gibbs was still trying to recover, giving Tony full access to his body, completely come-drunk and pliant. When his brain finally unscrambled enough, he became aware that Tony was straddling him, mouth hanging open, panting harshly as he stroked himself, the sound of his hand on his dick wet and smacking, alerting Gibbs to the fact that Tony was using his come as lubricant now. It made Gibbs’ spent cock twitch valiantly. He put his hand over Tony’s, helping to jack him off, eyes glued to Tony’s face as he started to come apart. His mouth parted in the shape of an o, and his eyes rolled back, as he arched his back, cried out and shot copious amounts of his release all over Gibbs’ belly and chest. He collapsed on top of Gibbs, still breathing in harsh gasps, and Gibbs held him, rubbing his hands soothingly up and down his back.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

[](https://i.imgur.com/ZehiCg6.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_No sign of @Tony_Di since he reportedly landed in WY & secreted away to LJ Gibbs’ super private ranch a few days ago. Not even a tweet! Have we lost him?_

[picture of Tony in Stormtrooper outfit from the San Diego Comic Con, helmet off, winking]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gibbs ran his hand up and down Tony’s body, dropping soft kisses in his hair, as Tony slowly recovered from his orgasm. Finally, Tony tucked his face into Gibbs’ neck with a soft groan.

“Fuck,” he sighed. “That was good.”

Gibbs rumbled his agreement.

“You didn’t feel, like, weird or anything? Or pressured? Or rushed?” Tony asked anxiously, pushing himself up.

Gibbs smacked the back of his head lightly. “’Course not,” he snorted. “Shut up and let me bask in post-orgasm bliss with you relaxed in my arms instead of second guessing yourself.”

Tony nodded, giving him a sheepish grin.

Gibbs pulled his head down, fingers buried in Tony’s soft hair, kissing him tenderly. “You make me want to say things I don’t think you’re ready to hear me say, darlin’,” he whispered.

Tony gave him a shocked look, before he blushed and nodded. “Same here,” he admitted.

“’Sides, you’ve never pressured me into anything.”

Tony made a disbelieving noise as he settled himself back down onto Gibbs’ chest, completely ignoring the fact that their fronts were a mess of jizz and that they would probably stick together before long.

“It’s true,” Gibbs told him.

“Well, if you liked that…”

“Couldn’t you tell how much I liked what we just did?” Gibbs thrust up into Tony’s groin, letting Tony feel that Gibbs was starting to get interested again.

“OK, maybe you did like that,” Tony conceded shyly.

“A lot.”

“Then if you want to try other things, we’re going to need supplies. I mean, I brought a couple condoms and a small thing of lube but you know, air travel isn’t that conducive to things of this nature. And besides, I wasn’t expecting for us to just start having sex together, since we were going to go slow. And I didn’t want to presume and just get more supplies after I got off the plane, and besides they really don’t have the best stuff at airport shops, you know…”

“Hush,” Gibbs silenced him with a deep kiss, distracting Tony for a few more minutes. When they pulled apart, Gibbs cupped his face, looking into his eyes, ensuring that Tony would see that he was telling the truth. “I have supplies.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Y-you do?”

Gibbs made a face. “Probably enough for a year or two,” he shrugged.

“What?” Tony’s eyes lit up with mischief. “Why, Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs. What are you saying? Did you invite me to your very remote ranch in order to defile me?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“What, you don’t want to defile me?” Tony’s green eyes were huge and disappointed now. “After what we just did? I think you owe me at least one defilement.”

Gibbs couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I want you, darlin’,” he husked. “I’ll defile you all you want.”

“Well good. I’m glad. But tell me more about all these _supplies_ that you got,” Tony waggled his eyebrows, making the word ‘supplies’ sound like something absolutely filthy. “Why do you have a couple years’ worth of supplies if you weren’t planning to defile me?”

“It wasn’t technically my idea…” Gibbs backpedaled.

“What do you mean?” now Tony’s green eyes were curious.

Gibbs sighed. “Let me clean us up and then I’ll show you my stash.”

“There’s more to this story! I can tell!”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Yes, there is! Don’t lie to me! You said you have enough supplies for – and I quote – ‘a year or two’,” Tony made air quotes with his fingers. “And that this was not technically your idea? So I need to know whose idea this was because it was a hell of a good one!”

Gibbs pushed Tony off him, kissing him before he sprang out of bed and headed into the bathroom where he got a washcloth and got it wet with warm water. He ignored Tony’s persistent questions, coming back to carefully wipe Tony clean before he cleaned himself and tossed the washcloth into his laundry hamper.

“C’mon,” Tony pouted. “Tell me the story and I’ll give you the best blow job you’ve ever had.”

Gibbs gave him a look.

“OK, granted, I’m probably going to give you as many blow jobs as you can possibly stand this week, and all of my blow jobs are guaranteed to be the best blow job you’ve ever had, so maybe that’s not such a selling point,” Tony continued.

Gibbs couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. “You’re such an idiot,” he said fondly, pulling Tony in for another kiss.

A few minutes later, he was sucking on one of Tony’s nipples as the younger man arched up into him, gasping and clutching at Gibbs’ hair. He was starting to nibble his way down Tony’s belly, taking the time to lick and taste each of those defined abdominal muscles that he’d been lusting after for weeks now, and he could feel Tony’s dick hardening up again and nudging his arm as he sucked hickeys on Tony’s hip. But before he could get his mouth on his hard, throbbing cock, Tony pulled him up back towards his head. They kissed for a while, their dicks starting to slip and slide against each other again, but Tony rolled them over once again, ending up on top, straddling Gibbs, and he actually slid down Gibbs’ legs, pinning him down without allowing their dicks to touch each other or leaning down to take Gibbs in his mouth for the promised supposed best blow job Gibbs would ever have.

“Tell me about your supplies,” Tony panted.

Gibbs could hardly bring his mind back to what they had been talking about before they started on what he thought would be round two. And besides, all he could see was Tony’s cock, red and hard, drooling pre-cum, waving right in his line of sight. It was distracting, OK? He just wanted to do things to it – suck on it, maybe have Tony fuck him. He was good with it all.

“Hey,” Tony tried to get his attention away from his dick. “Come on. Tell me about your supplies and then I’ll let you do whatever you like with me.”

That got Gibbs’ attention. He blew out a long and loud breath and nodded. Tony slid off him then, kneeling by him until he pulled the man back into his arms, wanting Tony to be close to him, wanting Tony’s skin on his.

“Don’t laugh,” Gibbs warned him.

Tony snorted. “Every time someone prefaces a sentence with ‘don’t laugh’, you know that the only thing I’m going to be able to do after you tell me this is laugh?”

“Seriously. Let me show you my stuff,” Gibbs rolled them over to his side of the bed and opened the bottom drawer of his side table where he had stuffed the box that Ernie had given him.

Tony gave him a curious look. Gibbs pulled the box out and handed it to him. Tony straddled him again, placing the box on Gibbs’ chest as he opened it.

First he pulled out the book and he gave Gibbs an approving look. “Research,” he nodded. “I definitely approve.”

Gibbs shrugged.

Tony immediately honed in on the fuchsia pink dildo, pulling it out with a gasp. “What the fuck? Did you get this to fuck me?” he sounded excited. “This is a really good model, Gibbs. I approve!”

Gibbs made a mental note never to tell Ernie what Tony was saying. “Well, I, ahem,” he cleared his throat, “I tried it on myself first.”

“Reeeeaaaallly?” Tony’s eyebrows were practically in his hair, they were raised so high. He grinned at Gibbs. “And…?”

“I liked it,” Gibbs said shortly.

“No shit?”

Gibbs rolled his eyes. “Best fucking orgasm I ever accidentally gave myself,” he muttered.

Tony’s laugh was low and husky, and Tony snugged his still-hard dick up against Gibbs’ waning hard on, starting to rut against him. “Color me surprised.”

“There’s more stuff in there.”

Tony laughed as he pulled out the unopened box of condoms, and the twenty or so containers of lube Ernie had put in there. “Massive tub o’ lube! And _flavored_ lube? Oh fuck, I _know_ this is definitely not something you bought for yourself.”

“None of it is,” Gibbs admitted.

“Why the hell are you so embarrassed about this?” Tony gave him a long look. “So someone gave you an anal sex care package. Nothing to be ashamed about. It’s good to be prepared, especially for something you’ve never done.”

“It was Ernie!” The words slipped out before Gibbs could stop himself and Tony put a hand to his mouth in shock.

“Ernie Yost? Corporal, US Marine Corps? World War Two veteran Ernie Yost? Little old Ernie Yost? The key word here being _old_?” he gasped out, eyes wide as saucers now.

Gibbs nodded, knowing that he was blushing like crazy.

“Holy fuck!” Tony shook his head. “That old man has great taste! He didn’t skimp on this care package. This lube he got is the good stuff. Trust me, it makes a difference.”

Gibbs rolled his eyes. “He even gave me a half off coupon for the site where he bought all this stuff.”

Tony started laughing then, pushing the box off to the side and falling onto Gibbs, laughing so hard that Gibbs could feel the drops of tears falling onto his chest from Tony’s eyes. Of course, Tony’s laughter caused their cocks to slip and slide together even more, and the friction was exquisite. He growled under his breath, thrusting up and sliding a hand up Tony’s crease, starting to slowly finger Tony’s hole.

“How about we make good use of the care package, huh?” he muttered in Tony’s ear.

Tony nodded, now starting to suck on Gibbs’ nipple as he ground his amazingly unflagging erection against Gibbs’ dick.

“How do you want to do this?” Gibbs asked.

Tony gave Gibbs’ nipple a final hard suck before he pulled off, eliciting a groan from Gibbs. He gave Gibbs a serious look. “I’ve been fantasizing about you fucking me,” he said candidly. “I didn’t think you’d be into me fucking you.”

Gibbs gave him a wry grin.

“But since you’ve already been experimenting, I’m definitely not going to object to fucking you at some point.”

Gibbs’ grin widened.

“But I can’t lie to you. I’ve been fantasizing about you just pounding into me, these last couple of weeks especially? When I call and you’re all sleepy and sexy. Mrowr,” Tony growled deep in his chest.

“OK,” Gibbs agreed. He would have agreed to anything Tony wanted at this point, as long as they kept going.

This time it was Gibbs who rolled them, pushing Tony down and kissing him, resuming the line of kisses down his chest, tasting, nibbling, suckling at Tony’s golden flesh. When he got down to Tony’s hips again, he saw that Tony’s cock was still drooling pre-cum and he leaned down and licked it, licking his head as if it were a lollipop, and Tony’s strangled moan, body arching up involuntarily, made his own hard cock begin leaking.

“Please,” Tony moaned.

“What flavor of lubricant shall we try tonight?” Gibbs affected a detached tone, giving Tony a faux-bored look.

Tony giggled. “Whatever you want, baby.”

Gibbs rolled his eyes and randomly pulled a tube out of the box. He handed the tube to Tony to unseal – it happened to be one that he hadn’t taste tested – as he ripped into the box of condoms, pulling out a string of them and pushing the box off the bed now.

“Piña colada,” Tony grinned at him. He gave it a bit of a taste. “Yum.”

“Not as fucking delicious as you are,” Gibbs muttered, grabbing the tube and squeezing it on his fingers. “I’m going to try to make this good for you, but you have to tell me how it feels, OK? So I can make sure you’re enjoying it?”

Tony nodded, his dick nodding along with him. Gibbs leaned down and kissed the head before sucking it into his mouth. Tony accidentally thrust up into his mouth, pulling back with a muttered oath and an apology, but Gibbs smiled around the dick in his mouth and hummed, making Tony groan. This time the younger man stopped himself from thrusting up, but instead clutched at the sheets as if trying to ground himself.

Gibbs began swirling his fingers around Tony’s hole, carefully ensuring that the pucker was lubricated. He wondered if Tony would ever allow him to suck and kiss him there, because he really, really wanted to taste him right there now. But he kept to the task, remembering what he’d read in the book, and he slipped a finger into Tony’s tight hole. The younger man sighed, relaxing his muscles and allowing Gibbs’ finger to slide in all the way.

“Fuck,” Tony moaned, his muscles clenching down on Gibbs’ finger.

Gibbs licked up Tony’s shaft as he felt around, wiggling his finger in Tony’s tight passage, trying to loosen it enough.

“Another,” Tony demanded.

“Don’t want to hurt you…”

“Gimme another,” Tony ordered him.

Gibbs took Tony’s cock as far into his mouth as he could – maybe halfway down the shaft, which was something he was pretty proud of, given that it was his first time sucking cock – and slipped a second finger into Tony’s hole. Tony was writhing and moaning and he hummed again as he began scissoring his fingers.

“Yeah,” Tony gasped. “Yeah, s’good. Yeah.”

Gibbs pulled off, wanting to concentrate on what his fingers were doing. He kept his eyes on where his fingers were buried, felt the little bundle of nerves inside Tony and crooked his fingers. Tony almost arched right off the bed, crying out, and Gibbs saw pre-cum drip from the head of his dick onto his belly, and he was immensely turned on and frankly, proud of himself for getting this reaction out of the younger man.

Tony was swearing up a litany of curses and praises, and Gibbs slipped a third finger in. He worked carefully, massaging Tony’s prostate with every two or three strokes when the younger man began grabbing at Gibbs’ hair and shoulders.

“Fuck me now,” he told Gibbs. “Don’t make me come like this. I want your dick inside me when I come again.”

Gibbs gave him a hungry grin, leaning down to give Tony’s cock one last suckle. He pulled his fingers out, causing Tony to whimper, and wiped his hand on the sheet before he started to reach for the strip of condoms. Tony watched as he ripped one open with his teeth and rolled the condom on his dick. Tony helped by adding extra lube on him, tugging him a couple of times, making him moan softly.

Gibbs couldn’t help but stare at the man under him. Tony was absolutely beautiful like this – his lips were swollen, there were marks down his neck, his golden skin was flushed with arousal, and his gorgeous dick was red, and hard, and leaking. Tony looked completely debauched. He leaned down and captured Tony’s kiss-swollen lips in another hard kiss, ravaging his lips and sucking on his tongue, before he pulled away. He pulled one of Tony’s legs over his shoulder, wanting to try for an angle that the book recommended for the best option to hit Tony’s prostate, and lined himself up. He started pushing himself in, and when the head of his cock pushed past the first ring of muscles, he groaned. Carefully moving in and out, he worked himself deep into Tony’s body, until his balls were snug against Tony’s ass and he kissed Tony again, this time the kiss was slow and deep and tender.

Tony was moaning when he began to move, and they stuttered for a couple of thrusts before they adjusted to each other, and Gibbs began thrusting smoothly, hips moving, pushing in and pulling out while Tony moved with him, meeting his thrusts and clenching around him.

“You’re so tight,” Gibbs gritted out, leaning down to kiss him. “ _God_.”

They moved together, and unlike earlier where their movements were urgent and desperate, this time Gibbs knew that they were making love and not just fucking. They continued to kiss each other, licking down their necks, nibbling on ears and collarbones, while Gibbs continued to move. Even when he shifted Tony’s leg a little and changed the angle of his thrusts, causing Tony to practically scream as he started pounding right into the younger man’s prostate, he swallowed Tony’s cries in deep kisses, feeling how Tony’s body engulfed him, hot and tight and wet, and Tony’s hands were everywhere, grabbing onto his hips, clutching his back, somehow managing to roll one of his nipples in his fingers even as he met each of Gibbs’ thrusts. But it wasn’t all that crazed urgency rushing to completion, they were enjoying each other’s bodies, enjoying all the sensations, and they were both trying to take their time to just be with each other, explore each other together.

Finally, they couldn’t hold it back anymore, and Gibbs was now pistoning into him, short, hard, deep strokes, and he slid a hand in between them, grasping Tony’s weeping cock. He spared a moment to wonder about the feel, the heft and the weight of the velvety shaft in hand, he had Tony DiNozzo’s dick in his hand, before he began pumping him. Tony was screaming when he tensed up, ass clenching Gibbs’ dick tight, as he came, pulsing over Gibbs’ hand and onto his chest. Tony’s passage tightening on Gibbs pulled him over the edge, and his hips stuttered, thrusting a couple more times before he shoved himself as deep as he could go and came, his dick spitting come into the condom, deep in Tony’s body, roaring his completion.

It was a few moments later that Gibbs managed to let Tony’s leg down and push himself off the younger man’s chest, supporting his own weight again instead of letting himself crush Tony. They were both still sweating and panting hard. He cupped Tony’s face and kissed the corner of his mouth.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered, and butterflies were fluttering in his belly. He knew then that he was in love with this man. Knew that he would do everything he could to be with him, and to do whatever it took to make him happy.

Tony’s eyes were closed, but he smiled, a slightly loopy smile. “ _You’re_ amazing,” he hummed.

Gibbs kissed him again, soft, tender kisses, filled with love, a love that he knew he couldn’t voice yet. Things were so new, and he didn’t want to scare Tony away.

“Remind me to send Ernie a gift basket,” Tony murmured, causing Gibbs to break into laughter and his dick to slip out of Tony’s body.

The next few days were filled with everything Gibbs could have ever wanted. Tony asked Gary to treat him as another hand and assign him duties, and even though Gary gave Gibbs a doubting look, Gibbs shrugged it off. So Gary started assigning work for Tony to do, even though he was a guest, but he kept Gibbs and Tony together for the most part, so that they would share the chores and still have time for quiet rides, just the two of them. They hiked, had picnics, stargazing nights, even skinny dipping at the swimming hole in really cold water, and a bunch of the things that Gibbs loved about his ranch.

The first time Tony fucked him, Gibbs had the most intense orgasm of his life. Unfortunately, he had to beg off riding a horse the next morning because of it. Ernie guffawed and smacked Tony’s back proudly, causing both Tony and Gibbs to blush, and Gary to meep and run off without another word. Gibbs loved watching Tony interact with his nearest and dearest, and tried not to leave Tony alone with Ernie too much since the two of them seemed to get along like a house on fire and he didn’t want to have to bail either of them out of too much trouble.

One afternoon though, Gibbs overheard Ernie speaking softly to Tony in the living room. He snuck up to them and peeked, and saw that Tony had set up a video camera – don’t even ask him where that thing came from, he only lived there – and Tony was taping Ernie, asking him questions about his life, interviewing him about his experiences on Iwo Jima and how it was when he returned from his service. Gibbs listened for almost a half hour, amazed at the narrative that Tony was pulling from the old man. Tony was a skillful interviewer and Gibbs’ mind went back to that interview that Tony had done, where he’d claimed to have thought about going into law enforcement, and he thought that Tony would have made a great interrogator, the way he managed to get Ernie to talk about his past because even though Ernie was a gregarious man, he rarely, if ever, spoke about his time in the Great War. Subsequently, Tony and Ernie spent several afternoons together just speaking quietly.

Tony came out of the living room with thick black glasses perched at the end of his nose and a pen tucked behind his ear one of these afternoons, and Gibbs had to drag him to the bedroom to have his way with him, ignoring Ernie’s knowing cackles. After they were sated and Tony just lying in his arms, boneless and replete, Gibbs found he had to ask.

“How’s it going with Ernie?”

Tony shrugged. “He’s such a fascinating man. So full of life, and he’s had such an amazing life.”

“That he has.”

“His story needs to be remembered. I want to help with that.”

“I’m glad he’s letting you do this.”

“He won the Medal of Honor, Gibbs. He’s a fucking hero. He did what he had to do, and then he came home and raised a family. You know that his wife was a nurse? That’s how they met?”

“I did not know that. Ernie doesn’t like to talk about it.”

Tony sighed. “He misses her so much,” he whispered. “He misses her more than anything. But Gary’s here, so he’s still here. Even though I can tell he just wants to go and be with her.”

Gibbs pulled Tony close and kissed him. “Never leave me.”

Tony gave him a grin and smacked his chest playfully.

“What are you going to do with these interviews?” Gibbs asked.

Tony shrugged. “Preserve them for posterity?” he suggested.

“I saw this one interview you did on a talk show…”

“What?” Tony exclaimed. “You saw me do an interview?”

“Abby sent me a link.”

Tony laughed. “That’s your excuse for everything.”

Gibbs growled at him, before he went on. “Anyway, I saw you say in an interview that when you grow up you want to be a writer?”

Tony shrugged. “I say all kinds of things in interviews.”

“This was true though,” Gibbs gave him a serious look. “I could tell. You have stuff hidden away on your hard drive.”

Tony blushed and buried his face in Gibbs’ chest. “Maybe,” he muttered.

“You should write about Ernie. Make a movie about him.”

“I don’t know…”

“You should ask him. I bet he’d get a kick out of it.”

“It’s such a serious subject matter,” Tony frowned. “It’s World War II. He had to kill young Japanese men who were just as scared as he was, and just as stuck as he was on that island.”

“You should tell that story. It’s important.”

Tony grunted.

“Maybe you’ll let me read your stuff one day?” Gibbs asked carefully.

“You’d be interested in reading what I write?” Tony’s eyes were wide.

Gibbs nodded. He was interested in every aspect that was Tony. The younger man blushed again and nodded.

“Yeah, maybe,” he responded.

“I still think you should ask Ernie if you can make a movie out of his stories.”

“I’ll think about it,” Tony murmured.

Gibbs kissed his temple and continued to rub his back, soothing him.

“Would you play the lead role if I wrote this movie?” Tony suddenly asked, surprising him.

“You write me a part, darlin’, I’ll fucking do you proud,” Gibbs promised. “I don’t care if it’s just a walk on.”

Tony grinned at him. “You’re the star. Never just a walk on.”

The next morning, Gibbs was alone when he awoke. It was rare, since Tony wasn’t a habitual early riser like Gibbs was. As a result, he was grumpy when he stomped into the kitchen. He found Tony elbow deep in biscuit dough. He was apparently learning Gladys’ secret biscuits and gravy recipe, and in trade he was going to teach her his Italian cook’s lasagna recipe. Tony was telling Gladys all about the cook, who had worked for his parents when he was a boy, before he’d been sent to boarding school.

“You learned to make lasagna with the cook when you were a boy?” Gibbs interrupted as he headed straight for the coffee machine.

Tony nodded. “Yeah. Wasn’t too many other people around, and not everyone liked having a little boy underfoot. But I was always welcome in the kitchen, as long as I helped out.”

Gibbs frowned, reading between the lines of what Tony wasn’t saying. He didn’t have any playmates, and he wanted to keep out of people’s way – people meaning his parents, probably. And that he didn’t want to go where he wasn’t wanted, but that the cook allowed him to hang out if he helped. Which meant that Tony spent his childhood in the kitchen with the staff instead of doing whatever it was that little rich boys were supposed to do. He made a mental note to ask him about this another time, pausing to kiss Tony as he worked the dough.

“Don’t mess up my biscuits,” Tony admonished him, when they pulled away.

Gladys snorted with knowing laughter.

“Oh my god,” Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s not a euphemism for anything, Gladys!”

Gladys only laughed louder. Gibbs shook his head and mumbled about the inappropriateness of the people he had around him. Needless to say, Tony’s biscuits turned out perfectly.

That night, Tony’s made from scratch everything lasagna went over well with all of the ranch hands and Gladys was telling Tony that he should bottle his marinara as it was much better than anything she’d ever tasted. Tony was grinning and then they were discussing steaks and different rubs, and suddenly Gibbs was pulled into a steak-off. The next night they competed, Tony’s steaks against Gibbs’ trademarked cowboy steaks and Gibbs knew that everyone was betting to see who would win. After Tony’s lasagna the previous night, he’d apparently established his credibility in the kitchen.

In the end, it was a tie vote. Gibbs refused to speak to Gary for two days for voting for Tony’s steak instead of his.

Tony’s visit stretched from one week into two, and Gibbs knew that when Tony had to leave, he would be miserable. He started finding more things that they could do together. One clear night, they rode to a meadow and left the horses to graze while they laid among the wildflowers and looked up into the starlit sky. Gibbs was telling Tony about growing up in Stillwater, Pennsylvania. They were exchanging stories about their childhood while he pointed out different constellations to Tony. He found himself talking about Jackson, his father, with whom he hadn’t spoken since shortly after Shannon left him.

“Your dad sounds like a cool character,” Tony said after Gibbs told him a story about Jackson. He could hear the smile in Tony’s voice. They were lying on the ground, their fingers interlaced, looking up at the sky full of stars.

He grunted. He’d stopped speaking to Jackson because the man had actually said to him that he understood why Shannon had let him think the baby was his. Gibbs had been so angry back then, so, so angry and so disappointed and so crushed by the loss of a wife and a baby that Jackson’s words, sounding like he sided with Shannon had been too much for him to bear. “I haven’t spoken to him in thirteen years,” he admitted, his voice soft.

“He’s still alive?”

“Yup.”

Tony’s fingers tightened on his. “Things happen,” he murmured softly. “Family is always complicated.”

Gibbs grunted his agreement.

“My mother died when I was eight,” Tony continued. “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Still. To this day.”

Gibbs pulled Tony’s hand up and kissed it gently. His own mother had died when he was a teenager so he knew the pain of loss at a young age, too. He’d been a holy terror after his mother died. Jackson hadn’t known what to do with him. He’d lost himself for a while, and he didn’t think he recovered until he joined the Marines, and until he met Shannon.

“After my mother died, my father, he started… hitting me,” Tony whispered.

Gibbs couldn’t quite stifle the gasp.

“I’m fine,” Tony turned his head and gave Gibbs a smile. “I thought he blamed me for my mother’s death, you know? It made sense in my head, at the time. I can’t tell you how many hours of therapy it took for me to actually realize and believe that my father had been… beating my mother and abusing her, and he only turned to me after she’d died.”

“Fuck,” Gibbs gasped.

Tony shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

“How long did this go on?” Gibbs asked, trying to control his rage.

“Couple years?”

“The cops?”

“They weren’t going to do anything in the household of some rich guy in Long Island, back then,” Tony said sadly. “My father would have had their jobs.”

Gibbs growled.

“I’m fine,” Tony reassured him. “The last time it happened, he broke my wrist and my arm was broken in two places and wrenched out of its socket at the shoulder. He pinned my arm behind my back too hard. Who knew little kids’ bones were that brittle?”

Gibbs’ growl deepened.

“He couldn’t hide it then. I was in the hospital and, it’s all kind of blurry, but my Uncle Clive came. My mom’s brother. He came from England. She was English, did I mention that? Anyway, apparently someone, I don’t know, maybe our cook? Someone called him,” Tony paused for a moment. “After the hospital, I was packed off to boarding school. This is what the English upper class do to their children, so it wasn’t like my uncle was just trying to hide me or anything. It’s what they do to all their children. So I got sent off to a boarding school, and my father stopped hitting me because I was never really home with him again after that.”

Gibbs gave a satisfied growl then.

“The worst thing is how much I fucking missed him,” Tony said softly, looking up at the sky. “How much I still thought I deserved what he was doing to me, because I thought he was right to blame me for my mother’s death.”

“How did she die?”

“Cancer.”

“That cannot possibly be at all your fault!” Gibbs exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Tony scoffs a little. “Years of therapy to get there, Gibbs,” he said softly. “Anyway, I wasn’t trying to bring anything down. I was just trying to say that family is complicated. I still wrote to my father every week, while away at school, and I never ever got a response back. And every week, when every other boy got a letter from their family and I got jack shit, every week, my heart broke a little more.”

“Shit, darlin’,” Gibbs couldn’t help it. He rolled over and pulled Tony into his arms.

“He forgot me in Maui for a few days when I was twelve,” Tony shrugged. “I somehow wormed my way into one of his trips that summer. He left me there and only realized I was missing when the hotel manager knocked on my door. Apparently he called the hotel to complain about credit card fraud because I was using room service. That’s what he noticed.”

“I would gladly put a bullet in this man’s head for you,” Gibbs muttered softly.

“No, Gibbs. At the end of it, he’s still my father,” Tony gave him a sad smile. “The saddest thing is that I still send him money. Now. Every month.”

“ _What_?” Gibbs scowled at that.

“He’s my father. I only get one in this life. I’ve already lost my mother, I can’t reach her anymore. But my father, he’s always responded to money. So I give that to him. It’s not like I don’t make enough now. Just because I haven’t seen him since I was twelve, doesn’t mean that I hate him. I don’t want for me to feel like I cut him off, and that the fact that we don’t have a relationship is at all my fault,” Tony breathes out a soft sigh. “This way, it’s all on him. I’ve never cut him off. He’s the one who’s chosen to pretend I don’t exist. So this is on him.”

Gibbs sighed and kissed Tony. They laid there staring up at the sky.

“Sure is so pretty out here,” Tony sighed. “Can’t see the stars like this in New York or LA.”

Gibbs agreed with a grunt. The next day, Gibbs called his father, and for the first time in thirteen years they spoke. It was a civil conversation, friendly even. And Gibbs promised his dad that he would come home and see him, and extended an invitation for Jackson to visit him in Wyoming. It felt surprisingly good to finally talk to the man again, even though he knew Jackson would drive him crazy if and when he visited.

When Tony couldn’t stretch his stay any longer, they planned a bonfire for his last night at the ranch. Everyone was coming. Tony had been one of the more popular guests that they’d had, with his willingness to pitch in with all of the chores, from caring for the horses, mucking out the stables, feeding the chickens, cooking, and doing the mountains of dishes that feeding all the ranch hands would generate. Besides, he’d become one of Ernie’s favorites, and everyone loved Ernie.

They spent a night under the stars with a gigantic bonfire. There was a ton of food, and smores and lots of booze. They were all nicely toasted when someone brought out a guitar, and then another guitar came out, and a harmonica, and they were singing songs. Tony was sitting on a log with Gibbs in between his legs, leaning against his thigh, smiling happily up at him. Tony was singing along with the other cowboys, when Ernie suggested they give their guest of honor the guitar. He’d read somewhere that Tony played.

Gibbs joined in, egging him on when Tony tried to make excuses, but finally Tony took one of the guitars and strummed it experimentally. He adjusted the tuning a little before he gave everyone a wry look.

“You guys are lucky I’m drunk,” he groused. “Or I’d never do this in public.”

He started strumming the opening chords, and then the group was silenced when he began singing.

_I'm tryin' to tell you somethin' 'bout my life_  
_Maybe give me insight between black and white_  
_And the best thing you've ever done for me_  
_Is to help me take my life less seriously_  
_It's only life after all, yeah_

Tony’s voice was a lovely, clear tenor, husky and sweet as he sang and played. When he got to the chorus, people started joining in and he began harmonizing with them. Brian, the guy with the other guitar began playing, their guitars doing a kind of duet, and they were all singing.

_And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains_  
_I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains_  
_There's more than one answer to these questions_  
_Pointing me in a crooked line_  
_And the less I seek my source for some definitive_  
_The closer I am to fine_  
_The closer I am to fine_

Tony finished strumming the final chords with a flourish and everyone broke into applause. Tony handed the guitar back and leaned down to kiss Gibbs, smiling wide.

Gibbs drove him to the airport the next day, and there were kisses and hugs, promises of more visits, and maybe even a few tears. When he got home, alone and sad, he called Dorneget and asked him to make plans for him to fly out to LA every other week for the next couple of months. Tony had to train for his new movie, and Gibbs knew that he’d already cheated a lot by coming out to Wyoming and having a good time with Gibbs. It was time to let Tony do his job, but at least he didn’t have to do it alone.

Tony called him as soon as he landed in LA and carefully floated the idea of coming back to the ranch for a short weekend stay in a few weeks.

“You’re welcome to come back anytime, but I’d really like it if you were here the weekends I’m here.”

“You never leave the ranch.”

“I’m headed down to LA in two weeks,” Gibbs said softly.

“What? Why?”

“To see you, dumbass,” Gibbs muttered.

There was silence on the line for a long moment. “Sweet talk like that, how can I resist?” Tony finally teased back.

“You know it,” Gibbs griped. “That OK with you?”

“Yeah,” Tony sounded genuinely happy about it.

“If it’s OK with you, I’ll come see you every couple weeks?”

“ _Really_?” Gibbs could picture Tony’s green eyes widening with shock. “You _hate_ LA!”

“I don’t hate you,” Gibbs muttered.

He could practically hear Tony breaking into a smile. “Are you telling me that you’ll brave terrible LA for little ol’ me?”

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

Tony laughed. “That’s awesome. I’ll try to make to the ranch the other weekends? Gladys will have to let me cook for myself because I’ll be on this godawful diet. And I’ll have to run and train and do all these things while I’m there. But if you’re OK with that, I could try to come back the weekends you’re not out here.”

“Perfect,” Gibbs told him.

“I guess we’re really doing this, huh?” Tony sounded less certain now.

“Yup,” Gibbs told him succinctly. “You and me. We’re a thing now.”

“Yeah. I guess I’m getting that vibe.”

“You good with that?”

“More than good with it,” Tony assured him breathlessly. “Really good with it.”

“Good. Then I’ll see you soon?”

“Definitely. Can’t wait.”

“Also… Ernie’s yelling at me to ask if he can… tweet?... the video of you singing that song last night?”

“Ernie _tweets_? What am I saying? Of course he does!” Tony laughed.

“Well?”

“What song?”

“You weren’t _that_ drunk, were you?”

Tony sighed. “I was hoping Ernie would be.”

“I can tell him no.”

“Nah. It’s fine. Tell him it’s a go,” There were faint sounds. “Michelle is here. I have to run.”

Gibbs sighed. “Miss you, darlin’.”

“I miss you, too.”

There were words that remained unsaid after they hung up, and Gibbs knew that they were both grown men who’d had long lives, and been hurt and hurt others. But he knew that he loved Tony and was hopelessly in love with him. And he hoped that Tony felt the same for him. But they’d only known each other only a few short months, so he knew that they would take their time, and maybe one day, not too long after this they would be ready to say some serious words to each other. He couldn’t help but look forward to that day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Ernie Yost @CorpErnie_Y_  
_@Tony_Di sang a song for us last night. Come back and visit soon, kid. We’ll miss ya #Tibbs #Tibbs4EVA_

[link to a four minute video of Tony singing _Closer to Fine_ by the Indigo Girls, with Gibbs sitting at his feet and a bunch of ranch hands singing along and playing with him. The video ends with Tony leaning down and kissing Gibbs laughingly and enthusiastically]


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

[](https://i.imgur.com/qfE860p.jpg)

**One year later, and onward…**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_  
_@Tony_Di wore a ring at charity gala in NYC last night! Did @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard put a ring on him? #Tibbs #Tibbs4EVA_

[picture of Tony in a suit, open collar no tie, talking to Meryl Streep, a tastefully blinged ring on the ring finger of his left hand]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Entertainment Weekly @EW Retweeted_  
_@Tony_Di confirmed his engagement to @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard. <3 <3 #Tibbs are getting married y’all! #Tibbs4EVA_

_Tony DiNozzo @Tony_Di_

_Yes. I said yes. OK? K, bye. <3 <3_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_Cast reunion for the stars of #Coleoptera, attending @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard’s wedding to @Tony_Di. Private #Tibbs ceremony at WY ranch. No press allowed :(_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_  
_#Tibbs sighting! On their way to their honeymoon? Don’t they look blissful??? Congrats! <3_

[picture of Gibbs walking with his arm around Tony, both men wearing cowboy hats and sunglasses, slightly laden with luggage, walking through what looks to be an airport somewhere in the world]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[](https://i.imgur.com/Tsnz5zK.jpg)

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_@Tony_Di sold his 1st screenplay. Project’s greenlit & rumor has it, as he wrote it for @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard, LJ Gibbs to play the lead role_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**Hollywood Gossip** – Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. It was a landmark morning for the DiNozzo-Gibbs household. Tony DiNozzo was nominated in the Best Writing (Original Screenplay) category for his first screenwriting effort, _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot_ , and LJ Gibbs was nominated in the Best Actor in a Leading Role for his gritty portrayal of Oliver in the movie written by his husband. The movie is an incredibly realistic portrayal of the battle for Iwo Jima during World War II, and a story about humanity in the face of such horrific circumstances. Incidentally, _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot_ is also up for the following awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Franks), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ken Watanabe), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Marisa Tomei) and Best Music. Congrats go to the cast and crew of _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot_ , especially our favorite couple #Tibbs! And if you haven’t gone to see that movie yet, WTF? Go watch it! Go! It’s out on DVD and iTunes!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_TMZ @TMZ_  
_Wasn’t their first date a red carpet thing? It’s been a few years but they’ve still got it!! Now they’re both nominated tonight #Tibbs #Oscars_

[picture of Gibbs and Tony dressed in tuxedos on the red carpet, posing for photographs. Gibbs and Tony’s fingers are interlaced and Gibbs has pulled Tony’s hand up to his lips and is kissing it, smiling lovingly at his husband while Tony grins excitedly at the cameras]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_@Tony_Di won! He won!! OMG! We were absolutely right in our prediction that he would win!_

[picture of Tony holding up the golden statuette one handed in triumph, his expression one of nervous excitement and elation as he stood at the podium, blowing a kiss to the audience]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Entertainment Weekly @EW_  
_How ridiculously sweet was @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard? He broke down in tears, dedicating his second Oscar to hubs @Tony_Di. <3 <3 #Tibbs_

[GIF of Gibbs knuckling away tears and saying “I love you so much, darlin’. You’re everything to me”]

[](https://i.imgur.com/4wNdvWh.jpg)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**Hollywood Gossip** – Two-time Academy Award winner LJ Gibbs was quoted as saying he almost threw up, he was so nervous when they were announcing the Best Writing awards as he really wanted his husband Tony DiNozzo to win and believed that Tony would win. Both husbands are now Academy Award winners. They dedicated their wins to each other and to the late Corporal Ernie Yost whose story inspired the movie, and their speeches left not a dry eye in the house. The movie _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot_ , netted a total of five Oscars last night. In an unexpected move, the Hollywood power couple even appeared at several Oscar after parties, celebrating with their cast, crewmates, and friends, even though LJ Gibbs is still notoriously reclusive, rarely accompanying his husband on any public appearances.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_#Brangelina may be on the outs, but r #Tibbs taking a page from their playbook re: kids? Rumor says @Tony_Di & @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard r looking into adoption!_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Perez Hilton @PerezHilton_  
_@Tony_Di discloses to @JKCorden on @latelateshow that he & hubs @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard r expecting twins via surrogacy. Twins! Congrats!_

[photo of Tony showing the camera an ultrasound picture with two tiny blobs in it, looking extremely happy and proud]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Tony DiNozzo @Tony_Di_  
_Michael Ernest & Thomas Jackson DiNozzo-Gibbs have arrived! OMG!!!!!! #firsttimeparents #overwhelmed #love_

[photo of Tony and Gibbs, each holding a tiny, swaddled baby. Tony is looking down at the baby in his arms and smiling tenderly, with an unlit cigar stuck behind his ear, Gibbs grinning like a monkey at the camera, unlit cigar hanging loosely out of the corner of his mouth, showing the world the pink, wrinkly newborn he is holding]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**Hollywood Gossip** – Out of the blue, acclaimed director Tobias Fornell filed for divorce against his wife Shannon Gibbs-Fornell, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. Fornell is suing for joint custody of their daughter Kelly, 16, although he has moved in with old flame, casting director Diane Sterling. Sources close to the Fornells state that the results of a paternity test show that Sterling’s teenaged daughter Emily, also 16, is really Fornell’s biological daughter, and not the daughter of Sterling’s ex-husband Victor Sterling. Ironically, Shannon left former husband, academy award winning actor LJ Gibbs after a secret affair with Fornell that resulted in the conception of their daughter, Kelly. In another strange twist, Victor Sterling is the agent who was fired when he told openly bisexual, academy award winning writer and blockbuster movie star Tony DiNozzo to hide his sexuality or he would be ‘unemployable’. DiNozzo has gone on record citing that Sterling told him that being openly bisexual would be the ‘death of [his] promising career’. DiNozzo’s career has obviously not gone as predicted by Sterling, given the string of commercial and critically successful films that DiNozzo has headlined, not to mention the best original screenplay Oscar that DiNozzo won this year, penning the movie _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot_. And of course, DiNozzo is now happily married to LJ Gibbs, raising their twin boys together on their ranch in Wyoming.

Only in Hollywood, people.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_The talented @Tony_Di awarded a Pulitzer for his first novel Bête Noire, a touching coming of age story of a gay football player_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_The Late Show @colbertlateshow_  
_@Tony_Di talks about Pulitzer prize winning novel Bête Noire based on own nightmarish experiences growing up, & wanting a better world for his sons_

[link to 12 minute youtube clip]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Hollywood Gossip @HollyGoss1p_  
_Another Oscar win for @Tony_Di this time for playing Terry Malloy in the remake of On The Waterfront!_

[picture of Tony standing at the podium, holding another golden statuette and smiling at the audience]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**Hollywood Gossip** – Three-time academy award winner LJ Gibbs and his husband, two-time academy award winner Tony DiNozzo announced the birth of their daughter Natalia Ann DiNozzo-Gibbs this morning. Baby and surrogate mama are both reported to be healthy. Photos of the newborn have yet to be released. As with their twin sons Michael and Thomas, the couple had their daughter via gestational surrogacy. This comes on the heels of LJ Gibbs’ third Oscar win and the eagerly awaited release of Tony DiNozzo’s second novel, _Cadence_. DiNozzo’s third novel, _Requiem_ , is scheduled to be published next spring. He also recently wrote and published the memoirs of Corporal Ernie Yost, _Call of Silence_. The late Corporal Yost was the inspiration for his Oscar-winning movie _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot_. The book is flying off the shelves, and all proceeds go directly to the Semper Fi Fund ([www.semperfifund.org](https://semperfifund.org)) and the Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society ([www.nmcrs.org](http://www.nmcrs.org)), organizations that provide assistance to veterans and their families. DiNozzo’s first bestselling novel _Bête Noire_ won a Pulitzer, a National Book Award and the International Man Booker Prize. Good things keep coming to this amazing family, doesn’t it? We eagerly await the no doubt adorable photos of the new addition to the DiNozzo-Gibbs family.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Tony DiNozzo @Tony_Di_  
_I thank every known deity every day for them. @2nd_B_is_for_Ba$tard, Mikey, Tommy, and Tali are my everything #love #blessed #familyfirst_

[photo of Gibbs cradling an infant with a bright yellow sunflower clip in her wispy blond hair. Her eyes are open and are clearly a familiar green color. She has on a dark pink onesie with a cute cartoon hedgehog on it. On either side of Gibbs, trying to clamber into his arm and his lap, are sandy haired toddler boys, both with Gibbs’ blue eyes, making grabby hands for the baby]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And they all lived happily ever after.

**The End**

[](https://i.imgur.com/OOmquQI.jpg)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks! :D Hope y'all enjoyed this!
> 
> Can you believe all the gorgeous artwork my artist [Banbury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banbury/pseuds/Banbury) made? OMG!!! Seriously amazing! ~~I will put a link to Banbury's post here when it's available~~ Go check out [Banbury's art post](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16311668)!! But seriously, I love that she included some of the tweets, and the different banners. I also loved that the joyful feel of the story was reflected in the artwork. Seriously, Banbury, thank you so much! I love them all and I used them all!! :D
> 
> And of course, thanks and love to [jesco0307](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesco0307/pseuds/jesco0307) for her work betaing the story. You are the best! <3
> 
> Also thanks to my lovely friend [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots) who bounced around ideas with me of the story of a reclusive actor Gibbs. I know Gibbs is no Greta Garbo, but I hope you like how the story turned out, ma cherie.
> 
> The title of the story comes from the lyrics of the first song listed below. These are the two songs that most influenced me while writing this story:  
> * [Real Friends](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAmyHiLGhQ) (Camila Cabello)  
> * [Closer to Fine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgwM1Ky228) (Indigo Girls)
> 
> Now, this was obviously a full AU with no NCIS whatsoever. But I did try to pepper in some canon bits and pieces, so maybe you guys can find some of the little things I put in here ;) And in case you missed it, Tony's PA is Michelle Lee, and his manager is Tom Morrow :D
> 
> If any of you thought, hmm, Coleoptera sounds a little like the show Firefly, well, I modeled my fictional TV show after Firefly. In fact, fireflies belong in the order Coleoptera ;). I'm a huge fan of Firefly (in case you couldn't tell) and modeled some things after what Nathan Fillion said about Joss Whedon and working with him. I made up a lot of things about Hollywood, show business, red carpets and awards so bear that in mind!
> 
> The DiNozzo-Gibbs boys were named after Mike Franks, Ernie Yost, Tom Morrow (Tony promised him his firstborn to let him go to the Coleoptera panel, remember?) and Jackson Gibbs. For the girl, in this 'verse, Tony's mother was called Natalia and in canon Ann was Gibbs' mother's name so voila.
> 
> The two charities I linked to in the epilogue are real and legitimate, and from what I could find out on the internet, the majority of donations made to them actually go out to Veterans and aren't just used as administrative costs. I'm not advertising for them or anything, nor can I personally attest to the good work that they do, but this is what an afternoon of research into charities for vets turned up.
> 
> This story is part of the [NCIS Big Bang Challenge](https://ncis-bang.livejournal.com/63350.html) over on LiveJournal, and as always, thank you to [Jacie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie) for organizing this challenge! Three time's the charm, baby! :D
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this story. Hope y'all enjoyed it! <3  
> -j  
> xoxo

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for NCIS BigBang fic: Paper Town by jane_x80](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16311668) by [Banbury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banbury/pseuds/Banbury)




End file.
